Through the Looking Glass
by Seigyoki Maou
Summary: A mass crossover between Naruto and Dragon Age, to name a few. Can't say more without spoilers. A couple disclaimers before you even start the story, 1 I own NOTHING and 2 the "heroes" of this story have been turned up to 11, but so have their challenges.
1. Prologue

…...This is an idea myself and my friend had, in a moment of sheer insanity. So, let's begin.

**EDIT:** Forgot to put in a linebreak. Fixed it. If anyone sees typos, just let me know, and I'll fix em. ((This message brought to you by the SeigyokiMaou Association, dedicated to improving your reading experience since January 18th, 2012.))

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><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

Prologue

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><p>Harsh white light cast strange shadows on the wooden walls of the small house.<p>

The light did not touch the mirror.

The mirror did not reflect, but showed glimpses of things beyond. People, worlds other than this one.

The woman sitting before the mirror sighed, her large green eyes bloodshot from too many sleepless nights. A goblet of wine sat next to her, she absently reached for it, knocking it over in her clumsiness.

She looked at it, the wine looking like blood in the magelight. She sighed again.

"Oh my. Silly thing." She extinguished the magelight, and opened up a few windows, both to let in light and to air out her stuffy house.

It smelt of blood and magic. She was used to that.

_He_ always smelt of blood and magic.

She stopped in her cleaning. Why did everything remind her of _him_?

She looked darkly at the mirror, even that thrice damned thing that consumed her waking moments inevitably led her thoughts back to him.

She realized her fists were clenched. She relaxed. "Why..." She shut her eyes, and sank into a memory.

_Kirkwall was safe, the Blight was ended, and there was peace. Not that it would satisfy them. They had become accustomed to adventuring, risking life and limb for little more than a few pieces of gold and perhaps a fancy trinket. But it was the _adventure_ that drew them all, the act of going somewhere largely unknown, facing danger, being victorious. Surviving. Always surviving. _

_He had saved her, looked out for her, become her friend, introduced her to his friends, who became her friends as well. So when he came to her, inviting her along on an expedition into the Deep Roads, how could she deny him?_

_If he had asked her for anything, anything at all, it would have been his. Even that. Gladly that._

_They came to the entrance to the deep roads, and he greeted his brother, who had been forced to join the Wardens because of that ill fated expedition to the Deep Roads. He was accompanying them, after all, no matter if there was a Blight or not, there were always Darkspawn lurking in the old Dwarven paths. _

_For the first days were uneventful, a few Darkspawn, nothing they couldn't handle. Then, suddenly, there was a cave in. From what they could tell, nobody had been seriously injured, but they had been separated. She was alone, with _him_ and despite the situation, she was overjoyed. Alone, with Hawke. _

_She babbled. She babbles when she's nervous. She hates that about herself. Hawke said he didn't mind. That was enough for her. They walked for what seemed like days, sometimes going up, sometimes going down, scrounging up mushrooms and water. It was tough, but she was enjoying it. She was alone with him. It was enough._

_Just as suddenly as the cave in occurred, an ambush was sprung. If Carver had been with them, it never would have happened. They fought well, launching magic into the sea of Blighted flesh around them. _

_Then it had come. Ogre. It slammed its titanic fist into her chest, lifting her slight body off the ground and launching her into a wall. She used the blood, threw up a barrier around her, prayed that Hawke was alive. _

_Then it went black._

_When she woke, Hawke was sitting at a fire, gnawing on a tasteless mushroom. Her clothing and armor were on his lap, a needle and thread in his hand as he patched the holes that she never noticed._

_Then it dawned on her._

_Her clothes. _

_On his lap._

_In his hands._

_She was naked. She "eeped" at the realization, causing Hawke to look back at her and grin wearily. He was exhausted. He had to kill all the Darkspawn on his own. He still found the energy to tend her wounds and patch her clothes. _

"_Go back to sleep. You almost got the elf beaten out of your ears by that Ogre. I'm not much of a healer though. More of a killer, as you know." _

_She drifted in and out of consciousness, so her memories were hazy. She remembered him sitting near her, a sketchbook in his hands, drawing intently._

_She knew what he was drawing. The lyrium markings. She had branded herself with several, similar to Fenris' lyrium tattoos. They didn't allow her to pass through objects, but they did increase the strength of her magic. Hawke was copying the patterns. She wondered if he was drawing _her_ as well. _

_When she was well enough to be moved, Hawke helped her get dressed, and carried her on his back. In a few days, they found their way back to the surface. _

She opened her eyes. "Oh Merrill. Stop it. Being silly. He doesn't think like you do." Maybe he _did_, but then Isabela came into the picture. Not that she disliked the Rivani woman, because she did like her. She was just jealous. Stupidly perhaps. Many a time she had been tempted through the mirror by a Desire demon. She knew what she wanted, but she was strong enough to resist it. She hoped.

Fire flickered in her mind, sharp tongues of fury licked at the back of her eyes. She clenched her left hand, and the lyrium markings lit up. She glared darkly at the mirror. "This is all your fault!" She slammed her fist into the mirror, and a spiderweb of cracks spread across it.

Brilliant red light leaked through the cracks, and a deep rumbling laughter filled the room. Scowling, Merrill placed her palm on the mirror, blocking the red light and repairing the cracks. She had interacted with the mirror while feeling a strong emotion. "Stupid stupid."

_You can't win boy. I have it under control. I am one with it. You can't stop me._

Merrill stopped, her eyes fixed on the mirror. For once, it was showing her something new.

_I can. I will. Believe it you sick freak. _

_You think you can match the power of the Jubi?_

That was a new word for her. Jubi. The man in the black cloak and odd mask radiated power, whatever this Jubi was, it was powerful, and he could control it. His opponent wore a silly looking conical hat and a red cloak with stylized black flames adorning it. She couldn't help but think that he looked like the dashing hero of some children's story.

_I can outmatch the power of that overgrown shitpile. I can outmatch you. Eighth Gate; Shimon, RELEASE!_

_You trade your life for _nothing_ boy. That power is a grain of sand, blown away in the storm that is the Jubi._

The man in the hat was thrumming with power, Merrill could feel the surface of the mirror vibrating when he did his...gate...thing. What did the other man mean by trading his life?

_Riiiight. You see this? _The man in the hat tilted his hat back, and gestured at his forehead, which Merrill couldn't see from the angle the mirror showed. She tried to turn her head to see from a different angle, before remembering that mirrors don't work like that. Even magical ones. _I had Tsunade teach me how to use it. You see? Its healing my body even as the Shimon consumes it._

The two men clashed, their colliding fists tearing up the earth around them and moving the clouds above them.

_It makes no difference. Eventually the chakra will run out. Then you will die._

Merrill could almost feel the man in the hat smirking at his opponent.

_You see? Common misconception. Most of the chakra generated by the Eight Gates isn't utilized by the one that opens them. It increases physical abilities exponentially, but largely, the chakra is just released into the air, where it is lost. I don't have to worry about that. Because~~_ The man in the hat sing-songed, childishly. Merrill couldn't help but giggle.

_You have Samehada. Clever. _ Their fists clashed again, and the man with the mask unslung the odd looking weapon on his back. The man in the hat responded by clapping his hands together, and in a puff of smoke two massive swords appeared in his hands. One looked like a ridiculously large meat cleaver, the other like a log wrapped in cloth.

The pair rushed each other again, their weapons clashing. The sky tore open, the clouds for miles around were blasted away, and the ground beneath them split. So engrossed with the scene before her, the elven woman failed to notice herself. A nimbus of soft white light surrounded her, and slowly, ever so slowly, began to pull her towards the surface of the mirror.

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><p>The war-fan swung in, engulfed in demonic chakra. The man in the hat ducked under it, and suddenly he was the man <em>without<em> a hat. "You bastard! I worked for years to wear that thing! AND YOU DESTROY IT. JUST LIKE THAT? YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH I'LL KILL YOU!"

The masked man danced away, "My mother was a _saint_, unlike yours."

The swordsman frowned, his blue eyes glinting under a metal forehead protector. "You _killed_ my mother you sick fuck!" He dashed forward, twin swords blurring as he attempted to bisect his opponent.

"Tsk tsk Naruto-kun. Such a dirty mouth, didn't your mother teach you better?" Tobi, for it was Tobi, grinned behind his mask.

Cold fury crept onto his face. Naruto looked at Samehada and simply nodded. The sword convulsed, and began to fuse with his arm. When the process was completed, his entire body was covered in sharp scales. Stowing Kubikiri away, Naruto drew forth Kiba, and grinned a sharp-toothed grin as lightning crackled forth from them. "I will _destroy _you."

Tobi cackled madly as he drew the Jubi's chakra around him. "How long as it been Naruto-kun? A year? Five? I don't recall. It did take me quite some time to master the Jubi's chakra, enough time for you to become leader of that worthless excuse for a village. But considering their standards, it may have just been a week or two."

Naruto dashed at him, the sharp scales covering his body glowing with the sheer amount of chakra that was being released into the air. "You, _will, **DIE!**_"

Tobi and Naruto collided, and the boundaries between worlds shuddered.

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><p>The mirror pulsed, and flung Merrill across the small room. Scrambling to her feet, she moved back to the mirror. The blonde called Naruto was crouched on the ground, the scales from his blood flowing freely from numerous wounds. The masked man approached. He was missing an arm, and most of his mask, but he was moving steadily forward, the jagged remains of his war fan poised to crash down onto Naruto, and likely kill him.<p>

She leaned forward, "N-"

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><p>"-o!"<p>

Tobi stopped, and looked towards the sound. A slim woman, black hair, wide green eyes, pointed ears. Shocked, somewhat lost expression. Tobi grunted, he would deal with her later.

He swung his weapon down. A green and brown blur shot between him and Naruto, knocking the young shinobi aside. A flash of blue light knocked him back, and he saw the woman, sitting on Naruto's chest, her left hand burning with a brilliant blue flame.

"_What?_"

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><p>Naruto looked up at the person that had tackled him to the ground. Green eyes. "What?"<p>

"Um. Hello. How are you? I mean, not well, of course, stupid question when you're all bloody and whatnot. I'm not hurting you am I? I am aren't I? Ohh im sooooo sorry! Oh, I'm being rude. I'm Merrill. Nice to meet you. I'll stop babbling now."

"...What." Naruto looked up at the woman that called herself Merrill. The woman talked a mile a minute, and he had absolutely no idea where she had come from, or what the hell she was saying. He found it somewhat endearing, for some reason he could not fathom.

"Oh! Silly me, I'm rescuing you!" She held up her hand, and it was engulfed in blue flames, with her other hand, she drew out a jagged shard of glass. A chunk of a mirror. Her lips moved in frantic, inaudible speech, and an odd light erupted from the mirror and surrounded them.

"_What?_"

Naruto looked over Merrill's shoulder, even as she stopped speaking, and everything the mirror-light touched was drawn into the glass. Tobi's hand grasped the woman's neck, and he was drawn into the mirror as well.

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><p>Merrill screamed. Naruto screamed. Tobi screamed. Her spell was meant for two people The delicate balance of the Eluvian had been disrupted by Tobi, the vast quantities of demonic chakra within the man turning the spell into...something else.<p>

Fingers burning with demonic chakra dug into the elven woman's neck, the sharp scent of burning blood crept into Naruto's nostrils.

He saw red.

This woman. This, strange, oddly endearing woman, who appeared from nowhere and tried to _help_ him. Tobi was hurting her. Tobi was _killing_ her.

Not again. _Not. **AGAIN**._

Reaching around the woman, Naruto's fingers scrabbled for Tobi's eyes, before digging into one of them. The half-blinded man let go, and Naruto reared back his arm, and slammed his fist into the remains of his mask.

With a twisted cry of anger, Tobi spiraled off into the darkness.

Merrill coughed.

The void between worlds pulsed and screamed.

Naruto put his hands over his ears, letting go of Merrill in the process.

She woman shouted, but the words never reached him. White light engulfed him.

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><p>"What the?"<p>

"Do you know where you are, eh milkdrinker?"

Naruto groaned, and picked a few splinters of wood off his face. "Someplace where insinuating that someone drinks milk is an insult?"

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><p>AN: SO! That was fun! Thoughts? Hate it? Love it? Want MOAR?<p>

Couple questions for you guys.

1)Where did Tobi end up?

2)Where did Naruto end up?

BLLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEGH. I start college tomorrow. So my updates will be sporadic, but I'll try for weekly.

PLEASE REVIEW. ALL YOU PEOPLE THAT FAVORITE THE STORY, ALL YOU PEOPLE THAT PUT IT ON YOUR ALERT LIST; REVIEW THE DAMN THING, LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS SO I CAN MAKE IT EVEN BETTER!


	2. Broaden Your Horizons

AN: I'm disappointed by the lack of reviews (as always), but even moreso by the fact that nobody tried to guess where Naruto ended up. No fun peeps.

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><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

Broaden Your Horizons

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><p>Two pairs of strong hands pulled Naruto to his feet, rather roughly. The blonde bared his teeth, today was not a good day to aggravate him.<p>

The man to his left was sent flying from a kick to the chest. The man to his right was flipped through a chair.

Naruto stood, blood dripping from the wounds Tobi had given him. "Do _not_ touch me."

A deep rumbling laugh filled the dining hall that Naruto had found himself in, like the rumblings of an oncoming storm. Turning his head, Naruto found the owner of the laugh. A giant of a man sitting in a massive wooden chair, what looked like an entire cow's leg in his hand. One of his eyes was milky white, and crossed by a massive scar, while the other was a brilliant piercing blue.

"You barge into our hall? Wreck our roof? Ruin _our_ feast? And you have the sheer _audacity_ to tell us not to touch you? You have guts, brat. I'll give you that. Aela, be a dear, lend me your blade that I might teach this whelp to respect his betters." The woman next to him handed him a blade, and the man stood.

Naruto was rather afraid. This man, whoever he was, was easily a head taller than Kisame, who was the tallest opponent he had ever faced.

Clapping his hands together, Naruto summoned Nuibari, the slim sword resting easily in his hand.

The giant only laughed, seeing what the sword resembled, "What is this? Did you take that from a giant's sewing kit? Going to patch the holes in my trousers?"

Naruto grinned. "Something like that." He let the sword drop to the ground, keeping the nearly invisible wire connected to the hilt-loop in his hand.

"Surrendering already? How bori-" The man stopped mid-word and reached up to his cheek. His hand came away bloody. Narrowing his eyes, he saw the wire as it caught the light from the fire in the center. Turning his head, he saw the sword embedded into the wall behind him. "Impressive, I didn't even see you move." He turned back towards Naruto, and found the blonde in the air before him, with his foot poised to strike his face.

The giant of a man flew back, toppling his own chair as Naruto landed awkwardly, his wounds making it difficult to land on his feet.

A shadow fell across Naruto, and he craned his head up. The giant stood over him, blood flowing freely from his nose, and a wolfish grin on his face.

"Welcome stranger! To Jorvaskr! You are welcome among us, for you've shown your mettle." The man helped Naruto to his feet, "Might I trouble you for your name? After all, we would be ashamed if we did not drink to the name of a warrior such as yourself."

"Uh...Naruto. My name's Naruto." The blonde swayed on his feet. Something was wrong with the universe. It had to be. First Merrill, then this guy.

"Hah, then join us! Companions! To Naruto! Our honored guest!"

The people gathered in the hall raised their mugs, and Naruto was shocked as a mug the size of his head and a giant turkey leg was pushed into his hands. He was guided to the left of the giant's chair, even as it was lifted up and the giant returned the blade to the woman on the right of his chair.

"Ah, we know your name Naruto, a strange name it is. My name is Gungnir, and I am the Harbinger of the Companions."

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><p>Naruto had spent several days in Jorvaskr, letting his wounds heal and regaining his strength. The Companions, as they called themselves, were a rowdy bunch, constantly fighting, swearing, belching, and drinking. Gungnir looked more fearsome than he truly was, though Naruto didn't doubt the giant's prowess in battle. The man wished to see Naruto's bladecraft, and the blonde gladly obliged. Gungnir laughed, and called him sloppy. He sent the blonde up to the Skyforge to get himself a set of armor, which he could wear under his "fancy coat" and a proper weapon, befitting a Companion. Not that there was anything wrong with the weapons he used, but Gungnir felt that Naruto should have a good blade with him at all times, so that he didn't have to resort to "conjuring up a witch-weapon," whatever that meant.<p>

It wasn't till Naruto left the Skyforge with a suit a supple leather armor, covered with light metal plates, and a Skyforge Steel greatsword did he understand what Gungnir meant. A proper weapon, befitting a Companion.

Somehow, the giant man had decided that Naruto was the newest member of the Companions.

The blonde smiled.

His sparring sessions with Gungnir went well, and he learned much. Eventually, Naruto began to tell the man his tale, and Gungnir listened with barely contained intensity. When his tale was finally done, Gungnir was silent, and bade Naruto give him time to think.

Naruto wandered Whiterun for a while, mingling with the townsfolk he had met. His wanderings found him perched atop the Skyforge, watching the moon from atop the head of the eagle, while heat from the ever burning coals wafted up to him.

_you sit in the dark. you walk in the night. come to me child of mine. come. your mistress calls you._

Naruto jerked awake. He didn't know he had fallen asleep. He sighed. Dawn was approaching, the Companions were probably wondering where he had been.

_Um. Hello? Can you hear me? Hello? Heeeeello? Oh Dread Wolf. I really thought this would work. You told me this would work Anders! … No I don't know how it happened! We already talked about this. Didn't we? If we didn't, I'm sorry, I must have forgotten that we didn't and thought that we did even though we didn't. … Oh, we did? See, I knew what I was talking about._

"...What." Naruto groaned. As if it wasn't bad enough that he was lost in a strange land, now he was hearing voices in his head. Well, one voice. That sounded exactly like Merrill.

_Oh! Hello! You can hear me! I told you it would work Anders! Your name, it's...Naruto, right? I mean, of course it's Naruto. I watched your fight with that awful masked man, and he called your Naruto, as nasty as he was I don't see why he would lie about your name right? _"Merrill..."_ Unless it's an insult...oh I do hope I'm not insulting you. _"...Merrill..."_ I'd feel so awful if I was insulting you, and then I'd feel even worse if you got cross with me. Oh I do hope you're not cross. _"...Merrill!"_ You're cross aren't you?_

Naruto sighed, "No Merrill...I'm not cross. Well. I am."

_Oh I knew you were cross...I'm sorry. It's because I babble isn't it? I'm sorry it's just that I babble when I'm nervous._

"Merrill...calm down. I'm not cross with you. Just...confused. I want you to answer some questions. Can you do that?"

_Well, of course I can answer questions. Who can't answer questions? Anyone can answer questions. Well...what _kind_ of questions are you talking about? I don't think I know you well enough to answer questions that are too personal._

The blonde sighed again. "...Merrill. I just...nevermind. Just answer please. Ok? First, tell me what happened. Where did you come from, what did you do, and where am I? And just how the hell are you talking to me?"

Naruto heard Merrill take a breath, and braced himself for the flood of Merrill's answers. _Well, I was mad, and then I hit my mirror. Its a special mirror, called an Eluvian. I mean, the word isn't special, it just means mirror in Elven, but the actual mirror is magical. It doesn't reflect things it just shows me things, like a window. When I got mad, I hit the mirror, and I thought I broke it, then I fixed it, and then I saw you fighting that masked man. You looked like the hero of some story, all dashing and heroic, but so very angry. He must have hurt you very much, I'm sorry for that. I truly am. So, um, I was watching. And he was about to kill you, and I didn't want to let that happen because I hate letting the bad guys __win, although from his perspective I'm sure you were the bad guy. For some reason, I went through the mirror, and I appeared where you were. Then I tackled you! I saved your life you know? That was the first time I saw your face! I tried seeing your face through the Eluvian, but that didn't work, I tried to turn my head, but mirrors don't work like that. Not even magic ones. Wouldn't that be fascinating if mirrors could do that? Babbling again, stop it Merrill. So I used my magic to try and pull you back through the Eluvian with me, and save you from that man, but he disrupted my spell, and all three of us got sent somewhere else. I got sent home, the rotten man got sent somewhere else, and you got sent to the world you're in now._

Naruto was rubbing his forehead by the end of her explanation. Different worlds. It was difficult to wrap his head around. He had thought he was just in a different land, like a summoning gone wrong. Not a different world altogether. He couldn't bring himself to be angry though. Merrill had saved his life. "Merrill. You need to help me get home. Can you do it?"

He could feel her uncertainty, somehow. _I...don't know. I don't know how I went through the Eluvian to begin with._

Naruto frowned, "Well...I guess we'll figure it out. I'll see if I can find anything out on my end. You didn't answer me Merrill, how are you talking to me?"

_Oh...um. Check the left pocket of your coat...cloak...thing. It's very dashing by the way. I probably couldn't wear one though, I'd just look silly._

Naruto reached into his pocket, and his hand closed around something that felt like wood polished smooth by years of handling. He pulled it out. It was a ring of carved wood, adorned with carvings of leaves and vines. It pulsed with energy, and felt warm on his palm. Naruto smiled, and put it on his little finger, the only finger that the ring fit on. Looking at the ring, Naruto spoke, "I don't know Merrill, you might look good in one. I'll let you try mine on when we meet again, and then we'll see about getting you your own."

_Oh thank you!_ A spike of embarrassment pulsed through the ring. _I mean...that...would be...nice. _

The blonde laughed. "No need to restrain yourself Merrill. Babble as much as you want. I don't like it when my friends pretend to be something they aren't." To his surprise, Merrill was silent for a while.

When she finally spoke up, she seemed dazed. _Thank you Naruto. I...I'm tired. Using the Eluvian for so long is quite draining! I feel like I've run up and down Sundermount twice in a day, before swimming along the Wounded Coast! I'll...talk to you later. Goodnight Naruto._

"Goodnight Merrill. I'll be here." Looking back up at the moon, Naruto smiled.

"Are you going to sit up there and talk to yourself all night whelp?"

Looking down, Naruto saw Gungnir leaning against the edge of the Skyforge. "Ah, sorry. I was distracted."

The Harbinger grinned, "I know that face. That's the face of a man longing to hold his woman in his arms."

Naruto turned red, and felt a spike of embarrassment through the ring, which made him even redder, "I-is not!"

"Hah! Deny it all you want boy, I'm more learned in the ways of the world than you are. Anyways, come, we're leaving. Aela will watch over the Companions while we're away." Gungnir hefted two large satchels, presumably filled with skins of mead and meat, along with camping supplies.

"Where are we going?" Naruto leapt down from his perch and took both bags from Gungnir before sealing them inside a scroll, much to the amazement of the large man.

"To find some answers to your questions, and to prove you are worthy of being a true Companion. This is your Proving Naruto, and I shall be your Shield-Brother."

The blonde grinned, "Finally taking me to fight some of these monsters you've told me so much about?"

The Harbinger matched Naruto's smile, "Yes, if we're lucky, we might even find a dragon for you to slay."

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><p>AN: Glorious! Please, for the love of the Maker, for the love of the Divines, for the love of Kami, PLEASE REVIEEEEEEW!<p> 


	3. A Learning Experience

AN: I think I'm on a roll. To all who reviewed, Talos protect you, and may the Maker have mercy on your souls.

**EDIT:** Thanks to Samurai89 for pointing out a speech quotation error. Fixed it. If anyone sees typos, just let me know, and I'll fix em. ((This message brought to you by the SeigyokiMaou Association, dedicated to improving your reading experience since January 18th, 2012.))

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><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

A Learning Experience

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><p>"So...you're sure you can do this Merrill?" Anders sat on a small stool she had procured from somewhere. He wasn't entirely sure she hadn't pulled it out of the Fade, which was somewhat disturbing.<p>

The elf woman was bustling about her house, drawing symbols on her walls and lighting candles. "Yes." She couldn't help but think he looked even more like a giant crow, perched as he was on the stool. She was oddly focused. No babbling.

"You're playing with things we can't even begin to understand. The Fade is one thing, but this...we don't understand this. At all. New worlds? Your...uh...new friend." Anders shifted before Merrill absently drew a symbol over his body. "We don't know anything about this person. And you want to somehow go into his mind. Assuming that its even possible to do that. Which it's not."

Merrill stuck her tongue out at the mage. "I can do it Anders. Now you can either stay and keep watch over me, or leave."

"Fine, fine. I'll keep an eye on you." The mage settled against a wall, ready for whatever would inevitably go horribly wrong.

Merrill sat in the center of a runed circle, the lyrium brands on her left arm lighting up, and the Eluvian shard in her right hand surrounding her in a nimbus of soft white light. "I can see...everything."

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><p><em>W-where am I?<em>

Merrill looked around, and began feeling claustrophobic. Not that the tunnel she had found herself in was particularly small, she had in fact been in smaller tunnels in the Deep Roads, but it had an unsettling sort of...pressure filling it.

_Ugh. I really need to get shoes with soles._ The elven woman looked down at the water that filled the bottom of the tunnel, it reached her knees, and it was warm, unpleasantly so.

_So, this is Naruto's...inside. Mind. Soul? Hmm. Its certainly gloomy for someone with such bright hair. Although, that's no way to judge what someone's soul should look like. Anyways, maybe it'll brighten up and his soul is actually full of sunshine and bunnies and flowers. Although that hardly sounds heroic. Certainly more pleasant, but not very heroic. Am I babbling again? I think I'm babbling. Quite Merrill._

To her left, something moved through the water, splashing loudly. She whirled, her runed arm ablaze with blue flames. Nothing.

_That was a bit unsettling._

**Who are you.** A deep voice resonated off the walls of the hallway. Merrill could see the water vibrating, and the voice shook her very bones.

_I-I'm Merrill. That is...m-my name is Merrill. Who...are you?_ She looked around, attempting to locate the source of the voice.

**Hmm. Hum. Hrrg. I don't know who I am. Simply that I am what I am. I exist. Therefore I am. Yes? **The voice chuckled, it must have thought itself clever. Merrill didn't think so. She thought it sounded like a Spirit.

_**What is this now? A cute little mouse, lost in the maze? Its it a fragment? No? Hmmm. Oooooo. An outsider. This is new. What shall we do with her dear lover?**_ The new voice was feminine, and didn't so much shake Merrill's bones as make her skin crawl.

_Um. I. Uh. I was hoping...to uh. Talk. About Naruto. Learn about him. That is, I want to understand him. Maybe you can hel-_ A wave of force knocked her back, and for a moment she was totally submerged in water.

**Naruto. You want to know about him? Sure. Oath-Breaker. Kin-Slayer. When he could have shown mercy to those that he had called family he chose none. He chose to strike, without mercy, and commit their souls to the cold Abyss. **Bitterness. The male voice was full of bitterness and spite.

_**You want to know of him? He is ignorant. Foolish. Childish. He was not man enough to do what needed to be done. He claims to have risen to power on his own merit, but he lies. He rose on the shoulders of those beneath him. His teachers? Dead. His comrades? Dead. His family? He had none. All the better for them, or his foolish ambitions would have condemned them to death.**_

Merrill pressed herself against the wall, shivering with abject terror. With every word they spoke, the spirits grew in presence. She realized they had been concealing their strength, and their strength was immense.

**Begone from here outsider.**

_**Lest we strip you of your armor.**_ Merrill felt her clothing torn to shreds, sharp claws raked her skin, drawing up lines of blood.

**Lest we rend your flesh.** The claws dug deeper, and she felt them tug at her soul, sending spasms through her entire being. A titanic, serpentine, _thing_ reared up before her. It was a void of blue-black midnight, its entire being focused into maleficent crimson eyes. It was coiled around something feline, a titanic mass of sickeningly pink energy, haughty emerald eyes locked on her own.

_**Lest we devour your soul.**_ The spirits lunged at her, and she braced herself for the end.

* * *

><p>"Why did you let her do that?" The voices were muffled. Arguing.<p>

"She was adamant. What was I supposed to do?" That was Anders.

"Tell her no! You know how she gets with that thing. Now she went into the Fade because of some insane vision it showed her. I mean, what sort of name is Naruto anyways? It's nonsense is what it is."

Merrill groaned. Hawke was here. To scold her. She felt like a herd of angry halla had trampled her. Or Qunari. Probably Qunari. She groaned again.

"Shh, she's waking up. Let me try to heal her some more."

Merrill cracked her eyes open, and found that one wouldn't do so. She reached up and gingerly touched it. Swollen. She had been struck? With her open eye, she looked down at herself. Dark, jagged cuts had marred her skin. She shuddered. Never before had injuries she had acquired in the Fade followed her into the waking world. Anders walked in and looked at her sadly, before shaking his head.

"Told you it was a bad idea."

She started to shake her head, she had learned a lot. She thought better of it, and nodded at the healer. "Why did you bring him..." She groaned as her bruised ribs struggled to let her draw breath.

Anders looked back towards the sitting room, where Hawke waited. "I didn't have to, he felt it. Honestly Merrill, we traveled together for how long? Got into so many scrapes together? You think we can't tell when someone's doing something stupid? He showed up right after you started to _bleed_. How is that even possible?"

She bit her lip, which only opened up another cut, which Ander's soothing magic quickly healed. "Spirits. Attacked me."

"So you did end up in the Fade."

She shook her head vigorously. "Not the Fade. Inside him." Her eyes felt heavy, they threatened to sag shut on her.

"You mean...wait, you said he looks normal. Is he like me?"

She nodded weakly, "I think...but he doesn't..." Her head lolled to the side as she succumbed to exhaustion. Anders rose, and deep in thought, went back out to Hawke.

* * *

><p>"So. Tell me why we're doing this?" Naruto had to shout to be heard over the roaring wind, and squint his eyes to shield them from the driving snow. Sometimes he wished he still had his goggles.<p>

Gungnir laughed, and for the tenth time in the day, Naruto feared the man's booming laugh would trigger an avalanche.

"Because whelp! Frost Trolls roam on the slopes of these mountains, and the oldest and strongest of them make their homes on the peaks. What better challenge than that? You held your own against me, for a moment, your skill should be sufficient to kill a simple troll."

Naruto doubted it was as simple as Gungnir said. He had seen the man wrestle a giant to the floor on their way to the mountain, so his scale of difficulty was likely somewhat skewed.

They reached a shelf on the side of the mountain, and Gungnir called a break, pulling out a flask of potent brandy and taking a swig, before offering it to Naruto, who gladly accepted, reveling as the warmth spread though his bones.

The pitch of the wind changed, and somewhere nearby, Naruto heard icicles clinking together. He thought nothing of it. Gungnir however rose to his feet, and drew out a hand axe, the faintly green tint of the metal catching Naruto's eye.

It struck faster than he could so. A serpentine thing, composed of floating ice crystals and magic. Gungnir blurred, slamming the thing with the flat of his axe and grabbing it by what Naruto assumed was its throat. Holding tightly to it, he approached Naruto. "Hold out your arm boy. Whichever isn't your dominant hand." Naruto did as he was told, albeit warily. "**Gron Iiz Aar**." Deep chill settled into Naruto's body, and he was dimly aware of the ice creature coiling around his arm, its icy bands wrapping his arm like a sleeve. The deep chill rapidly escalated into blinding pain, and Naruto was engulfed by darkness.

* * *

><p><em>why do you not heed my call child? come to me, child of mine, these mountain peaks are cold, and my embrace is warm. come my child, your mistress calls you.<em>

"Bah, wake up whelp. You missed all the fun." Naruto woke to the most brilliant sunlight he had ever seen, and Gungnir sitting atop a throne of piled carcases, his two handed axe resting easily in the back of one of the creatures.

"What the hell happened?" Naruto grabbed his left arm, which felt unusually cold.

"You passed out and I had to carry you up the mountain on my back." The giant of a man was unusually clipped in his response.

"I mean...what did you do to me? With that...ice...snake...thing?"

The man grinned, the blood on his face standing out vividly. "That? Ah, I bound the Ice Wraith to your core. To the very essence of your being. Its power is your power now. Although I'm sure you can use it in ways that the beast never would have."

Naruto looked at his arm, the twisting, coiling white markings stood out against even his fair skin. As annoyed as he was at Gungnir for not attempting to explain this before doing so, Naruto couldn't help himself, "So I've got ice powers now. Cool."

Gungnir raised an eyebrow. "That was horrid boy. The bards would love you, of that I'm sure. You'll figure out how to use the frost in time, for now, it's back down the mountain for us. We're off to find some bears."

* * *

><p>Naruto clung onto the thick fur of the bear, attempting to drive a knife into the back of its neck. He had stabbed it several times already, and blasted it with ice shards from his arm.<p>

The damn thing still wouldn't die.

"Are these like, magical bears or something?" The bear jerked to a stop and Naruto was flung into a tree. His view of the world was flipped on end, and the bear charged at him.

"Hahah!" Gungnir tackled his own bear, slamming a mighty fist into its ribs before smashing it in the face with a hammer that crackled with electricity. "No boy! Just ordinary bears!"

Naruto frowned, "Riiiight. I should expect things like this by now." Focusing chakra into his left hand, Naruto began to rotate it. It made a sound like glass shattering. He looked down, his Ice Wraith mark was glimmering with chakra, and the orb of chakra in his hand had taken on a white coloration. "Hm. **Kōsetsu Rasengan!**" He slammed the icy sphere into the bear's chest, and grinned as jagged shards of ice tore into it, freezing the bear's flesh even as it was shredded. Finally, the stubborn thing fell over, and was no more. Looking at Gungnir, the blonde grinned and gave him a thumbs up, which the man returned.

"Now what?"

Gungnir put a hand on his chin. Rather, a paw. The bear's paw. Completely detached from its owner. Naruto burst out laughing.

"Draugr?" The man shouldered stowed his hammer and loped off, a wolfish grin on his face.

Naruto followed, his grin as vulpine as Gungnirs was lupine, "Sure, why not."

.

.

.

"Wait, what the hell is a Draugr?"

* * *

><p>AN:<p>

Just in case anyone was unclear, Gungnir is the Dragonborn from Skyrim.

The Shout he used to bind the Ice Wraith to Naruto's arm was **Gron Iiz Aar**, which I pieced together from a Dragon Language dictionary, it literally means Bind Ice Servant. Gives Naruto some ice magic, which will be expanded upon later. Speaking of ice magic, **Kōsetsu** **Rasengan**, literally means Snowfall Spiraling Sphere.

Since it seemed to work last time... Please, for the love of the Maker, for the love of the Divines, for the love of Kami, PLEASE REVIEW!


	4. Midnight

AN: To anyone that hasn't noticed, this fic runs on a diet of Rule of Cool. If I think its awesome, it'll make its way into the story at some point. Probably. If my beta doesn't axe it. One thing I feel I should say, which may disappoint some of you. Naruto is _**not**_ Dragonborn. I mean, he's from a different dimension, ruled by different deities. HOWEVER, it has been noted that one does not need to be Dragonborn to use the Thu'um. So Naruto with some shouts? Not entirely impossible. Will he get shouts? Who knows. I don't even know. Read on and find out.

* * *

><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

Midnight

* * *

><p>Naruto had decided that he hated Draugr. With an unending fury that rivaled the intensity of the sun.<p>

He had also decided that he hated Gungnir. The man had forbade Naruto from using any of his better weapons, and was limited to his Skyforge steel greatsword. The weapon was undeniably deadly, but the deadliness of a blade is somewhat lessened when the opponent is already dead.

Stabbing a Draugr through the head, Naruto panicked briefly when he discovered the blade was stuck fast. Scanning the area, Naruto ducked and rolled under a particularly large axe-wielding Draugr, picking up a pair of Draugr long swords as he did so. The blades were heavy, wicked, and oh so very very sharp.

Neatly bisecting the Draugr, Naruto whirled, only to be met with the snarling face of a Draugr in a horned helm.

Behind him, Naruto heard Gungnir swear.

The Draugr drew itself up to its full height, drawing in breath as it did.

"**Fus...RO DAH!**" A wall for force slammed into Naruto, sending him into a stone wall faster than he had ever been thrown before.

Blood sprayed from his lips, and Naruto was fairly certain he had broken bones. Gungnir stepped forward, his hammer ready to strike. Naruto held up his hand, a look of grim determination settling on his face. "Finally. A _real_ challenge." He rose up, and closed his eyes. He reached out with his mind, searching for the eddies of energy that had become so familiar to him, back on his world.

There.

Naruto opened his eyes, the blue orbs had taken on a crystalline quality, the black pupils stark black slits against the almost white of his irises. He exhaled, and an icy mist hung on his breath.

"I see. Skyrim is cold." The blonde dashed forward, moving so swiftly that Gungnir was unable to see even a blur until the blonde reached the Draugr. Reaching out with his left arm, Naruto moved as if to perform a lariat on the undead Nord. His arm passed through the creature. In an instant, it was encased in ice. Naruto closed his eyes again, and when they opened, they had returned to normal. It had all taken less than a second.

"What was that power?" Gungnir tapped the Draugr with his hammer, and the thing shattered into glittering icy dust.

"Mm. We called it Senjutsu in my home. Sage Techniques. I can pull on the natural energy of the land to increase my own strength. Seems like Skyrim is cold, even at its roots."

"Seenjuutsus?" Gungnir mashed the word in his mouth, it didn't seem like his Nord tongue wanted to pronounce the word properly. Naruto just laughed. He was glad he had learned Temujin's native language, since it seemed to be the predominant language across the multiverse. It would have been difficult to become friends with Gungnir so swiftly if they couldn't understand each other.

Naruto took a step, and promptly fell on his face.

* * *

><p><em>Ooooooo goodie, look he's here!<em>

_shush. you're such a child. _

_**I don't understand why I am here. If the boy wishes my favor, let him seek me out on his own, he won't prove his existence if we coddle him.**_

_He's a stranger in a straaaaange land you twit. If we don't coddle him who will? I mean, we've been watching him for a while. Such a champion he would be. Mmmm. I wonder if he'd come to tea? I have such delicious cheeses this month._

_awaken my child. this is a realm of dreams, and you are safe here. i assure you._

_**Hehehehe. Safe. Right. So you plan to keep him held to your bosom forever hmmm? Yes yes, coddle him all you want, then one day, BLAM, some ignorant fool will walk all over your pet human and rip out his soul and devour his flesh.**_

_Oooooh? Ignorant fool you say? You shouldn't speak so dearie, even if it is about yourself._

_**W-what? WHELP! YOU ARE NOTHING TO ME! You gained your position through the favor of your predecessor, nothing more. You are not worthy. **_

_Well, no cheese for you then._

_ssshhhhh, i think you're frightening him._

_**He should be frightened. We are GODS if you recall.**_

_Pffffffphhhphphbt. Gods shmods. We're no more a god than he is. If he set his mind to it, no doubt he could defeat us. We've been watching him for a REASON you twat. Let me borrow that blade, my cheese needs cutting._

_**Get your own blade! This sword is for DEATH not for cutting the cheese!**_

_Pfffphbht. You said cutting the cheese._

_**W-what. YOU!**_

_Ahahahahahahahahahah~~~_

_just ignore them, please._

"_W-what the fuck?"_

_yes, i figured that would be your response, or something similar. when you awaken, instruct the dovahkiin to bring you to the twilight sepulcher, there, we shall speak in earnest, i have much to tell you, and you have much to ask. so for the final time. come my child, come now, find your rest in my embrace, come, your mistress calls you._

* * *

><p>Naruto jerked awake. He looked around for Gungnir, and found him skinning the carcass of a mammoth.<p>

"I think I met three gods." His own voice sounded distant, and Naruto found that disturbing.

Gungnir stopped mid-task. "What did they say?" That shocked Naruto. No questioning the validity of Naruto's claim, no doubt, just pure interest.

"Uh...one said I needed to prove my existence somehow. One...mentioned cheese. A lot. The last gave me a message for you. She said that you need to take me to the Twilight Sepulcher. Whatever _that_ is.

Gungnir rose, "Naruto, stow the mammoth in one of your scroll things. We're leaving. You did indeed meet three gods, or whats close enough to gods in this world. You met Sheogorath, Prince of Maddness. Charming fellow, a bit odd, has an unhealthy obsession with cheese of all sorts. You met Boethiah, the Prince of Plots. Terrible fellow, he offered his favor, if I offered him one of my friends. I declined. Finally, you met Nocturnal, Mistress of Shadows. She is...herself. I never understood her motivations, but she did not seem evil, not like Boethiah does. But if you've been summoned, it wouldn't do to keep the lady waiting." The man whirled about and placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder, with a mighty grin on his face, he spoke again, "_Never_ keep a lady waiting." The man pulled a small golden rod out of his pocket, an ornate lockpick by the looks of it. Jamming it into the air, he twisted it. Accompanying the twist was a tearing sound, and a void opened in the air.

"After you, whelp."

* * *

><p>Merrill frowned. Why couldn't she contact Naruto. She sat in front of the Eluvian, eyes bloodshot from lack of sleep, hair disheveled, wearing nothing but an overly large tunic that made it look like she was wearing a sack. She couldn't even see him through the mirror after her encounter with his Spirits. Perhaps they were blocking her? Or was it something from the world he was trapped in. She sighed.<p>

"Maybe it wasn't meant to be..."

"Maybe what wasn't meant to be?"

Merrill started at the voice, almost falling over. "O-oh. I didn't hear you come in Hawke. How are you today?"

"I'm fine Merrill. You look awful though. Have you been sleeping?" Hawke held out a mug of tea, which she gladly took. His blue eyes locked on hers. Both their eyes were blue. Naruto's were softer. She liked the softer shade of blue. She blinked. Hawke asked her a question.

"Oh, yes. Not well though. I've been trying to. But I get so worried abo-"

Hawke sighed, "He's not real Merrill. The mirror lied to you, like it always does. I don't know why you kept that thing."

She clenched her fist, then relaxed. "He is real Hawke. He is. I just need to get back into contact with him. Help me get back into contact with him. You're a better blood mage than I am Hawke. You deal with spirits just as I do. So don't you lecture me about them!" She clapped her hands over her mouth, dropping her tea in the process. She had yelled at someone. She had raised her voice at _Hawke_. People that did that typically died shortly after. The man looked at her oddly, then smiled.

"If you feel so strongly about it, I guess having me helping you would be safer than letting you do it on your own, right?"

Merrill smiled, "Yes! Thank you Hawke!" She gave him a quick embrace, and turned away blushing.

As she had hugged Hawke, Merrill decided that she liked blonde hair better than brown.

* * *

><p>Gungnir walked Naruto into the Twilight Sepulcher, inclining his head at the Nightingales that passed them. A slight Dunmer woman approached them, "Greetings Dragonborn, I will escort the Traveler from here. Thank you for bringing him."<p>

Gungnir nodded, and placed one massive hand on the woman's shoulder. "If he is harmed, not even Nocturnal can protect you from my wrath. Understand?" Though he did not use the Voice, there was an undeniable force in his speech, and the woman nodded quickly. Gungnir grinned and went off to, presumably, find a stiff drink and some meat.

"Come Traveler. The Mistress would speak with you."

Naruto followed the elven woman, hesitantly. Curious, he inquired, "Why are you calling me Traveler?"

The woman looked at him, her red eyes half-lidded, "Our Mistress says you are not of this world, that you traveled here from another, beyond the veil of Oblivion. You traveled, thus you are the Traveler. I do not know your proper name. Would it be impolite to ask it?"

Naruto shook his head, "Not at all. I'm Naruto, and you?"

She paused, "None have asked that question in...many years. I am Talsi. Pleased to meet you, Naruto. May the shadows hide you."

Naruto nodded at the woman, who gestured to the room ahead. "She will appear before you there. Be at ease, she will not harm you." With that, Talsi faded into the shadows, gone without a sound.

Naruto sat on the stone, and waited.

_anata ni go aisatsu, jōhō o naruto. yōkoso, watashi no tera e._

Naruto looked up, and saw an incredibly beautiful human woman standing before him, a slight smile on her face. "Anata wa watashi no gengo o hanasu?"

The woman before him laughed softly, like a whisper. _yes and no naruto. i can understand your language, but i am unfamiliar with it. it tastes odd on my tongue. i simply thought it polite to greet you in your own tongue. i have watched your world for some time, it interests me, greatly. such great warriors you have, they that keep to the shadows. i have had much interest in your life in particular my child. i would grant you my favor, and all that comes with it._

Naruto looked at the woman, no, the goddess before him. "Gungnir said there's always a catch with the Daedra. He say's you're not an evil one, but that there's still always a catch."

She smiled. _ the dragonborn is wise. there is always a catch. but of course, why would i give you my favor, if you do not revere my name? _She approached him, and placed her hands on his face. Naruto could feel the power beneath her skin. It terrified him. He was in awe. Her arms wrapped around him. c_ome traveler. rest in my embrace. _

"Yes."

* * *

><p>"So, what did she want?"<p>

Naruto looked down at the new black leathers he wore, Nightingale armor, the supple leather would hide him, and offer him great protection. "To give me her blessing." He looked to his left, where the Dunmer Nightingale Talsi stood ready, she was a "gift" from Nocturnal, and was to accompany them, and aid Naruto however she could.

"That's it? So, she gave you her blessing, a suit of _highly_ magical armor, a shiny new lockpick, a servant, and a sword that looks like its _made_ of darkness. All for free. I'm not buying that whelp."

"Well...I think I might have slept with her."

"Told you there was a ca-_WHAT?_" Gungnir whirled on the blonde.

But he was already running down the path laughing loudly, the newest member of the band easily keeping pace with him.

* * *

><p>AN: SO! Someone brought up the language thing in a review. Yes, there WOULD have been a language barrier, but Naruto already learned english from Temujin, who is from a europe-like country, so, I took some creative liberties there. Sue me.<p>

Some translations for you.

_Nocturnal: anata ni go aisatsu, jōhō o naruto. yōkoso, watashi no tera e.(Greetings to you, Naruto the Traveler. Welcome to my Temple.)_

Naruto: "Anata wa watashi no gengo o hanasu?" (You speak my language?)

I used google translate, so any errors in that exchange are there fault.

Dropped an OC in there, for shenanigans purpose, hope you like her once she gets more of a personality in the fic.

Please, for the love of the Maker, for the love of the Divines, for the love of Kami, PLEASE REVIEW!


	5. Cross Contamination

AN: Holy crap, I'm on such a roll today. This is gonna be the third chapter I'm posting up in a SINGLE DAY.

* * *

><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

Cross Contamination

* * *

><p>"Talsi, go left. Get up that tree." The Dunmer woman hummed in response, and clambered up a nearby tree with ease. When she stopped climbing, Naruto could hear her pulling her bowstring taught, testing it for weakness. When she found none, she let out a single whistling chirp.<p>

Naruto nodded to Gungnir, who looked towards their quarry. The Dragonborn had said it reminded him of an Orc, if an Orc was gray and eleven feet tall. Which he assured Naruto was _not _natural. He assumed it was some sort of magical experiment gone horribly wrong. Or horribly right.

Naruto couldn't decide which was worse.

He drew Nocturnal's shadow blade, and looked for a moment into the inky void that was its blade. The sword was a hole in the world, and Nocturnal had assured him that as long as he revered her, in some corner of his mind, the blade would cut through anything.

Occasionally say "What's up" to what seemed like a relatively nice goddess, in exchange for an unstoppable sword and armor that let him hide in plain sight? A small price. The *twang* of Talsi's bowstring brought Naruto back to the present. Her arrow slammed into the giant Orc's chest, and lightning arced over it.

The creature turned its gaze towards Gungnir, who had unslung his axe and charged headlong at the thing, roaring a war cry all the while. The Orc swung its fist down, which Gungnir handily dodged, bringing his axe down and nearly severing the offending appendage. Turning towards the body of the beast, Gungnir grinned, "**YOL TOOR SHOL!**" Flames sprung from his mouth and engulfed the creature. It wailed pitifully, but showed no signs of ceasing its attacks.

Naruto charged forward, a frosty Rasengan spiraling in his left hand, and the Shadowblade in his right.

He slammed the sphere into the creature's chest, and grinned as it was knocked back. Gungnir pulled out his hammer and drove it into one of the large creature's knees. A sound like thunder accompanied the dry snap of the kneecap shattering. A trio of meaty thumps announced that Talsi was still participating in the battle, as her arrows pierced the beast's face and destroyed one of its eyes.

The Shadowblade flashed forward, passing through the creature's remaining knee as if it was naught but air. The creature toppled, and Gungnir put it out of its misery with a swift blow from his axe.

"Bleh, Wuuthrad deserves a better challenge than this. Even the girl's bow weeps at the ease we felled this beast."

Naruto shrugged, let Gungnir complain about how easily whatever the thing they fought died. He would count their blessings, and offer some thanks to the gods, and Nocturnal.

"What do you think of...whatever this is, eh Talsi?" The Dunmer woman scowled, humming softly, as was her manner.

"It is unnatural. Not magic though. Doesn't have the...stench of that. Dragonborn, what say you?"

Gungnir grunted, "Aye, the girl is right. No magic did this.

Naruto touched the creature's blood, and sniffed it before wiping his fingers off on the beast's ragged pants. "No magic from your world at least, nor mine."

Gungnir raised an eyebrow. "Your elf-witch?" Naruto flinched at that, Gungnir had a dislike for elves, he barely tolerated Talsi, and that was because she was useful in a fight. Merrill had been silent for some time, and was therefore no longer useful, and no longer worthy of his tolerance.

"Perhaps..." Naruto looked at the wooden ring, and sent a mental probe through it, but gained no response. He sighed. "Well, it's not to farfetched to believe that my coming to this world, and Merrill coming to mine might have opened some paths, or changed some rules."

"Bah. Your witch may have brought horrors onto my land, if this is the case, I will have her head, don't you doubt it." The man slung his axe on his back, and turned away from Naruto.

The blonde was seething. The Dragonborn was threatening Merrill, _his_ Merrill.

_Oh, that's very sweet of you Naruto. Very heroic too, thinking to protect the damsel. I have a question for you! Why do you have those marks on your face? Do you like cats? Anders likes cats. I don't, not so much, I'd rather have a baby griffon, I'd name him feathers._

Naruto's eyes widened, and a sense of glee drifted through the ring. "Hah! Merrill! Where have you been?"

Gungnir turned, his eyes dark for a moment. He swiftly strode up to Naruto, and grasped the hand that wore the ring, so that his skin touched the warm wood. "Elf-witch. Can you hear me?"

_Oh...Um. Hello. You're...Gungnir, right? Thank you for watching out for Naruto. _

"Do you see this creature?"

A thrum of curiosity filtered through the ring. _Oh, how did that get there? Its from my world. An Ogre. Its a Darkspawn. Nasty things Darkspawn, I have a funny story about one meeting a dragon if you want to hear it._

"Is it dangerous, beyond its killing ability?"

_Well...no. Not so much. They're very strong, but on their own a competent fighter can deal with them. _

"Then you get to keep your head witch. Do not fall silent for so long again." The Nord stalked away from Naruto and looked towards a river in the distance.

_He frightens me. Oh. I have another question. Who's _she.

Naruto looked back at Talsi, who was busy running her fingers through her stark white hair. She felt Naruto's gaze on her, and smiled before pulling up her hood and moving to follow Gungnir.

"It's kind of a long story."

_Well, it's not like I'm going anywhere. Tell me what I've missed._

* * *

><p>Hawke sat against Merrill's wall, watching the images through the Eluvian with wonder. She was right. This Naruto person was real. The thought that there were worlds beyond the Fade was unsettling to him, but not completely outrageous.<p>

"Well that wasn't very nice. Why did the bear do that?"

The blonde's voice through the mirror was tinny, _Hell if I know. One minute we were just sitting there eating some dried fish, and suddenly, OH FUCK A BEAR! Thing came out of nowhere, damn near took off my head. Would have too if Talsi hadn't threw a rock at me. _

"I don't like her!" Merrill twisted anxiously, fiddling with the fringe of her scarf. Hawke thought it was hilarious, the elven woman had grown possessive over her new friend. She viewed the other woman, with her dark skin and red eyes, as a threat for his attention.

_I don't see why, she's been nothing but helpful._ Naruto was clueless as to why Merrill felt the way she did, but he also seemed to feel the same about her as she did about him. Hawke smiled, that was good. The woman had suffered more than most should, and deserved a bit of something good. Even if it was a clueless blonde in a mirror.

"Oh! Tell me about the...uh...Draugar?" Her eyes were growing heavy, but she was fighting it.

_Draugr, no aaaar. You sound like a pirate if you say it like that._

"Oh! I know a pirate." She seemed proud of this.

_I don't doubt it Merrill. The Draugr are like...zombies. Magical zombies, with big weapons and the desire to bury them in your skull._

"Well they sound positively unpleasant. Why would someone make things like that?"

_Their purpose is to defend the tombs they were buried in, I think. Gungnir wasn't very clear on that. And yes Merrill, they're _very_ unpleasant._

She pursed her lips, "Did you actually...umm...sleep with the um...night lady?"

Hawke noticed that Naruto was silent for a while. _I'm pretty sure. Do you want to know something Merrill?_

"Oh...um...of course." Her eyes were downcast, she seemed smaller than she was.

_When a god, asks for something like that, the request is more of a courtesy than anything. There's no other option but to say yes. The difference between that, and sharing that with someone you care about, is that you can answer yes or no. If you asked me Merrill, I think I'd say yes._

Hawke's eyes were wide, and he burst out laughing. Merrill whirled on him, her eyes narrow, and her face beet red. She took a breath and turned back to the Eluvian, her voice cheery once more, "I think...I will ask. Eventually. I think it's time for me to sleep...ma'arlath!" She blurted out the last part, and slapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide. If Hawke thought she was red before, she had discovered a new shade of the color now, it reached the tips of her ears. She looked at Hawke, who she knew understood what she had said.

_Goodnight Merrill, if I'm not awake when you get up, feel free to wake me up, alright?_

"O-ok." The elven woman moved away from the mirror, and into her bedroom, closing the door behind her as she did. Hawke remained sitting for a while, before rising and approaching the mirror.

He raked the tip of his gauntlet over the mirror, bringing it back to life.

He had told Marethari he would watch out for Merrill, he intended to do just that.

* * *

><p>Ma'arlath. Merrill had said it hurriedly, almost blurting it out. He needed to ask her what it meant the next time they spoke.<p>

Curiosity filtered through the ring. Which confused Naruto. Perhaps Merrill couldn't sleep?

_Hello over there, you, on the other side of the mirror. Can you hear me?_

A masculine voice, it carried the tone of one accustomed to sarcasm. "Where's Merrill." It was more an accusation than a question.

_There we go. She's fine, asleep in her bed, totally unharmed. I like that._

"Excuse me?" Naruto narrowed his eyes, and Talsi looked over at him, noting his agitation.

_You instantly sprang to defend her, or at least try and figure out what was wrong. I, ah, know your name. Its Naruto. I'm Hawke. Garret Hawke. Most everyone just calls me Hawke._

Naruto frowned, "I've had bad experiences with a name similar to that. Hawke, I don't really appreciate this. It...feels like you're intruding on something personal."

Hawke was silent.

"Hnn. Still there?"

_I won't intrude again after this, not without permission at least. I understand. I'll tell you what she said, at the end, if you'll tolerate me._

"...fine." Naruto didn't want to indulge this man, but his curiosity got the better of him.

* * *

><p>AN: I think this one was...interesting. If a bit shorter than the previous chapters.<p>

What's to come in the next chapter? Dragons, and a large quantity of cheese.

Please, for the love of the Maker, for the love of the Divines, for the love of Kami, PLEASE REVIEW!


	6. Sotviingmaar

AN: Ready for another?

* * *

><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

Sotviingmaar

* * *

><p>Naruto awoke before the dawn, and watched the sunrise in silence. Did Merrill really say what Hawke said she did? If so...did she really mean it?<p>

The last woman to say so had taken her own life.

The blonde shook his head. Now wasn't the time to think about that. Despite his annoyance at Hawke, his conversation with the man had been enlightening. The man had filled him in on his adventures with Merrill, and gave him a brief overview of world events in their world. The man also threatened to find a way to rip out Naruto's throat if he hurt Merrill.

Naruto could respect that. He'd at least give the man a sporting chance if it came to that. Not that it would.

He looked towards his still slumbering companions. Talsi was perched precariously on a tree branch, and Gungnir was sitting up against the trunk of the same tree, the deep rumblings of his snores shaking fresh snow from its highest branches.

"You awake Merrill?"

Half-conscious and hardly coherent feelings filtered through the ring. "That's a no." The blonde reached into his black coat, and drew out his forehead protector. He ran his fingers over the scratched and pitted metal. He could recall how every single scratch had been made. The headband was like a road map of his life.

A life he wished to forget, now that there was an alternative.

He had asked Merrill to help him get home.

Where was home?

What was home?

The place he was born?

The people he knew?

Did he even have a home anymore?

He looked at the ring. There was a possibility, Merrill's world. There was this world, another possibility.

He smiled. Yes. New possibilities. Something to look forward to.

_Why do you look so sad sometimes?_ Merrill's thoughts filtered through the ring, curious, and caring.

"I remember sometimes. What I've lost. It hurts." He stowed the headband back in its pocket.

_Tell me about it?_ The woman was genuinely concerned, her typical silliness replaced with an unusual sense of calm.

"Maybe...eventually. I don't like to let my past define me Merrill."

_What does that mean? _

"Tell me what emma lath means, and then I'll tell you." He grinned widely.

_...You're mean!_ _So, what's going to happen today?_ He didn't have to feel the burst of annoyance to know she was pouting.

"Dunno, I'm waiting for the big lug to wake up."

_Mmm...Naruto? Do you have any children?_ Her interest was genuine, if a bit sudden.

"W-what? N-no!" If he had been drinking anything at the moment, he was certain it would have been spewed halfway across the continent.

Merrill laughed, her satisfaction filtering through the ring. _Aww, don't be cross with me, I was just curious._

Naruto grunted, "Curiosity killed the cat you know."

_Satisfaction brought him back! Speaking of cats, Isabella always calls me kitten, I could never find out why._

"Wait, this is the same Isabella that showed you how to do body shots?" The thought caused Naruto's face to flush.

_Um. Yes. That was...I don't remember much of the night. Only that there was a lot of swearing, and Isabella was very clingy. She told me she could make my kitten purr. Which made no sense, because I don't have a kitten, never did. I'd rather have-_

"A pet griffon named Feathers. Yes Merrill, I know. You've said that quite a bit. You really don't know what she meant by that, do you?"

_No, she wasn't making much sense. Wait...I missed something again, didn't I?_

Naruto grinned. "Very much so. Hm, oh, Gungnir's awake."

The giant turned his eyes towards Naruto. "Get down. NOW."

His eyes widening, Naruto dropped to the ground.

A thunderous roar shook the earth, and the very air seemed to vibrate.

"**Daar gein siivve fin Dovahkiin!**" The voice was titanic, guttural, an full of animalistic rage.

Gungnir rose to his feet, his axe at the ready. "**Wo aavve?**"

The beast landed, and Naruto was full of wonder. " **Daar gein is Sotviingmaar fin Lokvith.**"

This was the first time he had seen a dragon. It glared at them with luminous golden eyes, its pale white scales glaringly bright in the sunlight.

The dragon looked towards Naruto, and breezed over him as if he did not exist.

"Naruto. Meet Sotviingmar fin Lokvith. Kill him." Gungnir looked at the dragon with barely contained bloodlust.

Naruto looked at the dragon, and he hesitated. The dragon lunged.

_Move you big dummy!_

Naruto blinked, and leapt over the dragon's head. Not high enough though, for the horn on the beast's nose caught his leg, tearing into it and throwing off the trajectory of his jump. Going into a wild tumble, Naruto slammed into Sotviignmaar's horns and the spines on his neck. Gathering his wits, the blonde attempted to jump onto the dragon's head and strike at its eyes.

But he was stuck fast. A sharp spike had pierced his armor and pierced into his shoulder.

The dragon shook itself, trying to dislodge the blonde, but only succeeded in driving the spike further into the wound. Unable to shake his unwanted passenger, Sotviingmaar took to the air.

As Naruto cried out in pain, Gungnir simply watched. Through his pain, Naruto understood. Up until now, the creatures they had faced were a warm up. The "real challenge" of a Draugr Deathlord was a joke. This was his Proving.

_Don't you _dare _die on me! If you die...I'll...I'll...I'll kill you!_

Closing his eyes, Naruto attempted to relax, and to draw on the natural energy of Skyrim, but the pain was too intense. He needed to get off the dragon. Clapping his hands together, Naruto summoned Kiba, and drove one of the lightning blades into the dragon's thick neck. It roared in pain and dived towards the ground.

"Oh fuck."

* * *

><p>Gungnir watched anxiously as the dragon tumbled in the sky, a small speck clinging to its neck.<p>

A pulse of energy radiated from the tumbling dragon, and the beast fell from the sky like a meteor.

The crash shook the earth.

Gungnir rushed forward, concerned for his comrade, though he was certain no great ill had befallen him.

Sotviingmaar lay in a crumpled heap, and Naruto stood on his bleeding chest. His eyes aglow, the blonde held a sphere of swirling power three times his size above his head.

"**Kos...Nahl...Slen!**" Swirling golden energy surrounded the dragon, mending its wounds. Naruto simply stood there, a dull, blank expression on his face. He made no move to strike the wounded beast.

_Naruto! What are you doing? Fini-_

**What are you waiting for? Kill it. Revel in it. Give into the joy of murder and death. Like you did before.**

The second voice cut through Naruto like a blade. The sphere grew unstable, and collapsed upon itself, the whirling, unconstrained chakra cutting into both Naruto and Sotviingmaar, though only the blonde was flung out of the crater left by the dragon's impact.

_No! Leave him alone! Stop it with your-_

**Silence, whore. **A rumbling laughter echoed through Naruto's mind, and it tore at his conciousness, threatening to engulf him. **Come on Naruto, don't you remember? How _happy_ you were when your sword cut into-**

_BEGONE SPIRIT! _Merrill's voice carried an irrefutable command, and the second voice grudgingly retreated. _Now Naruto. Show us the person that fought his world's greatest evil. I believe in you._

Naruto stood slowly, his confidence was shaken, his body breaking.

"Oi! Whelp! You've got two beautiful women watching you. Ya gonna disappoint?"

Naruto blinked slowly. Merrill's anger filtered through the ring, for once, she hadn't missed anything. Naruto looked towards Talsi, who was nervously biting her nails, watching intently, her free hand anxiously resting on her bow. He felt Merrill through the ring.

"Shaddup old man. I get it. Can't disappoint." He took a breath to steel himself, and opened his body to Skyrim's energy. His eyes turned icy, his breath became frost, the Ice Wraith bound to his arm writhed as power flowed into it. When he spoke, his voice carried an odd double timbre. "Hmmm. I think that...the fifth gate will be appropriate for this. Gate of Limit: Release!"

Sotviingmaar felt wary, as the human before him was radiating power greater than most dragons. Not his own of course, Sotviingmaar was _modest_, but well aware of his own strength.

Naruto narrowed his eyes, and stepped forward.

Sotviingmaar left the ground, but not under his own power.

Gungnir whistled. The blonde had knocked the dragon back.

By punching it in the face.

A look of apathy was on his face, even as the force of his chakra tore the ground up around him, Naruto crouched, crushing the stone beneath his feet. Shifting his weight, he vanished.

* * *

><p>Sotviingmaar was terrified, and was disgusted with himself for feeling such a <em>mortal<em> emotion.

Of course, he had never been _lifted_ by a human before. So he allowed that to be taken into account.

The human in question tensed, and the confused and terrified dragon felt a massive gathering of power.

"**Aaz?**" The dragon realized that the human didn't know Dragonspeak, or he would have been attacking him with the Thu'um. "**M-mercy. Human. Mercy.**"

The answer was calm, cold, and, in Sotviingmaar's opinion, very Dragon-ish. "No."

The building energy was released all at once, and the cold jaws of defeat closed on Sotviingmaar's torso.

Or were they the jaws of an Ice Wraith? Sotviingmaar couldn't really tell.

* * *

><p>AN: Alright, kinda lost my momentum halfway through this chapter, which made me sad. Couldn't get the flow of this fight to go to my satisfaction.<p>

Also, sorry about the lack of cheese. That was bumped into the next chapter, along with some...potentially horrifying revelations about the past of this story's Naruto.

Thanks too everyone that's been reviewing, here's a translation of the Dragon Language in the chapter. The fact that its not a real language and lacks certain language conventions...makes the speakers sound somewhat...uncivilized. Which works just fine really, but makes it difficult to translate stuff sometimes.

**Daar gein siivve fin Dovahkiin!** - This one finds the Dragonborn

**Wo aavve?** - Who joins?

**Daar gein is Sotviingmaar fin Lokvith** - This one is White Winged Terror, the Sky Serpent.

**Kos Nahl Slen**- Be Living Flesh

Please, for the love of the Maker, for the love of the Divines, for the love of Kami, PLEASE REVIEW!


	7. Inner Demons

AN: Ready for another?

* * *

><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

Inner Demons

* * *

><p>Naruto stood over the wounded dragon, ready to strike the finishing blow.<p>

A strong hand gripped his wrist. "Leave it boy. He's beaten. He's not fighting back. He's not a threat anymore. If you let him live, he might even become a valuable ally, with mastery of the Thu'um."

Naruto stared blankly at the dragon. "I can't use the shouts. I know the folly of leaving a wounded foe behind, when you have no way to control him. Too well."

Gungnir looked at Naruto, and saw a coldness in his eyes that went far deeper than the power of Skyrim's natural energy. "I'll teach you how to bind him. Till then, I'll hold his leash. Isn't that right **Sot-Viing-Maar**." The Dragonborn dragged out the dragon's name, infusing every syllable with power. The dragon lacked the strength to speak, and so nodded. Gungnir created a glimmering sphere of magic and pressed it against Sotviingmaar's head, and healed the dragon until it could move again, but not fly. "Begone from here, you will be called in time. You would do well to be ready for battle when that time comes. Am I understood?"

"**Yes Dovahkiin.**" He swung his massive head to face Naruto, "**...Kos Nahl Slen...**" The reluctance was evident in the dragon's voice, but a wave of soothing golden energy washed over the blonde regardless.

_Well, that was nice of him._

Naruto hardly noticed his wounds healing, or even Merrill's voice. His eyes were still icy, and locked on Sotviingmaar's eyes.

**Why do you restrain yourself? I mean, you don't trust this monster. And this man you hardly know, wants to _tame_ it? Just wait, it will turn on you, at _his_ command. **

The chill strength of Skyrim's natural energy left Naruto's body, but a chill remained.

**Hmmm. Is that so bad though? When he does turn on you...you'll be able to feel that old joy again. Betrayal. Such a sweet taste, isn't it oath-breaker?**

_BE QUIET! _

Naruto grabbed his head, "Shut up. You're lying. You don't...you don't know me."

Gungnir looked at Naruto with concern, "Whelp, are you ok?"

**Heheheheh. Can you drive me back again? Hmmm? Show me if you can, whore.**

Merrill's anger peaked. _Naruto, I'm going to go away for a bit. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning you, I swear._

Naruto's eyes were wide, and he only nodded.

**I will pick the flesh from her bones Naruto. I will break her, body and mind. And she will be _mine_. Such sweet, tender flesh. Aaaaaaaaall mine.**

"No! Shut up you fucking bastard! Leave her alone!"

* * *

><p>Hawke and Anders watches as Merrill blew about her home, the small woman a whirlwind of activity, the symbols needed for the ritual appearing on the walls faster than the two men could see.<p>

She suddenly stopped and sat down, pulling out the Eluvian shard as she did so. Her low chant filled the room with power. She slumped forward.

Hawke inspected the runes on the walls, and nodded. He raised his finger, and scratched one more, before taking a seat next to Merrill. Taking the Eluvian shard from her relaxed hand, he repeated her chant.

Anders only groaned. "What a couple of idiots."

* * *

><p>Merrill appeared in the tunnel again, her lyrium brands ablaze. A splash sounded behind her, and she whirled about, ready to strike.<p>

Hawke stood there, his staff planted in the water. _That was singularly unpleasant. Woah, I sound all...ethereal._

Merrill's eyes were wide, _H-Hawke? Why are you here?_

The man rolled his shoulders, _I know this is important to you, so I figured I'd lend a hand._

**How disgustingly sweet.**

_**Mmmm. You should let Naruto know that his precious little woman is not as dedicated to him as he thinks, wouldn't you agree dear lover?**_

**Quite.**

Merrill spun around, an inarticulate cry of anger bursting from her lips. _Go away!_

Hawke dispensed with the pleasantries, and lobbed a fireball at the first demon. _You've any idea how many of your kind I've killed? You're just another dead demon to me. _

**Hah. You've never faced our like before.**

The Champion twirled his staff. _Yeah, heard _that_ before. _

A blast of blue fire engulfed the feminine spirit, and she roared in pain. _**You fucking WHORE!**_

Merrill scowled, _Well that's not a very nice thing to say._

_**No? Well, fuck you. This kitty has claaaaaws.**_

The pink monstrosity leapt at Merrill, screeching all the way. The elven woman smiled and ducked into a side tunnel, leading the female demon away.

Hawke looked on with a grin. _Looks like its just you and me._

**No, it's just _me._** And the serpent lunged.

* * *

><p>Naruto's soul was a maze of murky water and twisting pipes. Perfect for fighting against a stronger opponent in her opinion.<p>

The feline demon appeared around a pipe, and Merrill sent a blast of blue fire into its face.

_**GRAAAAAAAHG YOU BITCH!**_

She ducked behind a pipe, and vanished into the twisting tubes. _You aren't very smart are you?_

The demon howled in rage, **_I WILL KILL YOU YOU GODDAMNED LITTLE BITCH!_**

_You have to find me first~_

_** I'LL RIP YOUR BONES OUT YOU STUPID LITTLE BITCH.**_

Merrill paled as the demon's fury began to melt the pipes, threatening to reveal her location.

A high pitched laughter filled the area, _**I found youuuu!**_ A titanic spectral paw slammed down, sending a shower of water over Merrill and knocked her back.

_Go away! Leave him alone!_

The demon paused, _**Go where? This...this is all we have left!**_ The demon screeched, and slammed into Merrill, lifting her into the air and scorching her with the heat of its fury.

* * *

><p>Hawke staggered back, holding his ungauntleted hand against his side.<p>

**Kekekekeke, does it hurt? Are you bleeding? Are you _dying?_**

Hawke grimaced, _This? Nah, this is a scratch. You'll impress me if you tear a hole in the sky and make it rain Mabari._

**I will make it rain your _blood_.**

_Well that's certainly intimidating. Very ominous piping._

**You _dare_ to mock me? **

_Did you say something?_

**You bastard.**

_My parents were QUITE married when I was born, thank you very much._

**I...what...you... JUST DIE!**

Hawke laughed as the serpentine demon crashed through the pipes. A dark void loomed to his right.

A dark void with bars.

Hawke was amazed. It was a cell, or a cage, and he had never seen one that was larger. One massive door had swung ajar.

The sight struck Hawke with sudden inspiration. Whispering a few words of magic, he summoned up an illusion of himself inside the cage. The demon charged, laughing madly.

And crashed into the back of the cage.

The mage thrust his hand into a flaming void in the air before him, and slammed the cage shut. The demon threw itself against the walls of the cage, to no avail.

_Well, that was oddly convenient._

A burst of light emanated from the bars of the cage, and the gloomy tunnels brightened considerably. Hearing footsteps in the water, Hawke turned.

_Well. I can say, this is unexpected._

* * *

><p>Merrill was dying.<p>

Of that she was reasonably certain.

Her arm was burned to a crisp, only the lyrium markings were undamaged. A length of jagged pipe was clutched in her hand, to be used as a makeshift staff. She had pulled it from her own leg.

_**Heheheheeeeeeeeeee! How are you feeling now darling? Ready to become one with me now? Let me devour you! It's not that bad from what I understand. Like falling asleep.**_

Merrill slipped in the water, and tumbled down a small slope in the tunnel. As she lay on the floor, her eyes half open, she sighed. _I'm not strong enough. I'll just...stay._

A sickly pink light engulfed the tunnel. _**There you are!**_ The demon purred her "R's", and Merrill felt ill.

_Come on Merrill. You can do better than this. _Merrill raised her head just enough to see the speaker.

_W-what? How?_

Naruto grinned, _You are in _my_ mind, I'm sorry it took me so long to find you. Hawke, take her out please. Both of you, thank you. So much. I will handle the rest._

Hawke nodded and scratched a few symbols on the wall before picking Merrill up. The two mages vanished in a swirl of pale white light.

* * *

><p>The demon stood perfectly still, its emerald eyes locked on Naruto.<p>

_**You.**_

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. _Yeah...me. You know I need to lock you away now that I know you're here. You still gonna fight this? _With a whoosh of air, Naruto and the demon were standing before the mighty bars of the cage.

_**I will not be caged.**_ The demon sounded cautious.

_That's what _he _said too, I'm sure. But Hawke locked him away anyways. Look, you can either exist inside the cage, or I can kill you. Your choice._

The demons were silent.

_I'm waiting._

_**We have**_

**a right**

_**to exist.**_

Naruto nodded, and pulled the cage open, and the cat slinked inside. _I don't deny you that right._

As the door slammed shut, the feline demon whirled about. **_You denied it to us before._**

Naruto sighed, and with a swipe of his hand, a golden void appeared before him, that would return his mind to the waking world.

_I know. I'm sorry. Goodbye Sakura._

* * *

><p>AN: So, anyone expecting that? Also, Glob dang it. The appearance of Skooma Cat keeps getting pushed back. My bad ya'll.<p>

Please, for the love of the Maker, for the love of the Divines, for the love of Kami, PLEASE REVIEW!


	8. Closure?

AN: Who's ready to learn more about Naruto's past?

* * *

><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

Closure?

* * *

><p>Naruto's eyes opened slowly.<p>

"I find myself interested in the boy."

"He is an interesting fellow, but for you to have come this far? I don't understand Reklosul."

"You are not meant to understand Dovahkiin. My reasons are my own, as the ever were, as as they ever will be. Do not think to understand the mind of one so much greater than yourself, it will drive you to madness."

"Forgive my presumption Reklosul. I meant no offense."

"And none was taken, though a warning was given in turn."

"And taken gladly."

"Oh don't grovel. It's maddening." The one Gungnir called Reklosul was a woman, and her voice carried a tone of command that Naruto could not even begin to fathom. Gungnir clearly regarded her as something to be respected, even feared.

"If I might be so bold as to ask advice of you Reklosul?" Gungnir sounded nevous. Apparently asking advice of Reklosul was not something that one was advised to do often, if at all.

"You might be so bold, and I might choose to offer some." She spoke in a twisting, winding manner, her words twining about one another, they could conceal her true meaning while leaving it bare to anyone with the wit to see it. Naruto was entranced.

"Where should I take him next? He has met with Nocturnal alread-"

"I am aware of who has summoned him, and I exchanged words with Nocturnal, she has relinquished her hold on him, which is for the best. He retains her blessings, but he does not serve her as she intended. As for where to take him? Mmm. A tricky question. Sheogorath would be the more enjoyable, I'm sure, though he is descending into one of his phases of dementia. One would be cautious when approaching him in such a state. I would suggest taking him to the Shrine of Boethia. He might be able to gain favor without undue death. If you like, I can send you to the bottom of the path, but no further. I am expected elsewhere."

"Thank you Reklosul."

She spoke a single harsh word, and darkness engulfed Naruto.

* * *

><p>And unceremoniously dumped him in the snow.<p>

The blonde jumped up quickly, only to find that Talsi and Gungnir were already standing. "What the hell just happened?"

Gungnir looked towards the sky. "We were paid a visit by Reklosul, and she offered advice and aid. If you ever have the fortune of meeting her, be respectful. She has destroyed kingdoms because of an errant or arrogant word. Take care to never be the fool that speaks out of turn to her."

Naruto raised his eyebrow, Gungnir still held that tone of reverence. "So, where are we?"

"We are at the start of the path that leads to the Shrine of Boethia. This trial you must face alone. I am not welcome, and Talsi would not be welcome either. Take the path, seek Boethia's favor, or don't. The choice is yours. However...you must go up the path, whelp. Oh, and try not to die."

Naruto frowned. "How comforting."

* * *

><p>Hawke had left Merrill in Ander's care, and decided to wander the streets of Kirkwall, thoroughly trouncing whatever thugs stupidly decided to attack a man with high quality armor that was clearly a mage.<p>

"Oi, gimme all your money."

"Do you know who I am?" Hawke sighed.

The thug had a jagged scar on his face, lifting his lip into a permanent sneer. "Do you know who _I_ am?"

Hawke scowled. "This is not a game of who-the-fuck-are-you."

The thug looked confused. "Wha?"

Hawke sighed again. "Look. I'm Garret Hawke. You know, Champion of Kirkwall? Hero of the Free Marches? My cousin is the Hero of Ferelden? Leader of the Grey?"

"You're a poor liar ya chump."

Hawke sighed again, or started too. A chill presence appeared behind him. He turned to look. A man with black hair pulled back into a pony-tail, his eyes half-lidded behind a pair of half-moon spectacles, deep creases started at the inner corners of the man's eyes, as if he was perpetually tired. A small black book was held up to his nose.

"He speaks simple truth Zol. Garret Hawke, pleased to make your acquaintance. Pivane Crowe, at your service." The man snapped the book closed and extended a hand. As Hawke took it, he felt the tension in Pivane's muscles. Coiled springs, ready to snap at a moments notice. As inoffensive as this man looked, Hawke has no doubt that he was beyond deadly.

The man's coal black eyes met Hawke's blue ones, and he flashed a perfect, if lazy, smile. "So, I hear you're in possession of an Eluvian?"

* * *

><p>Naruto stood at the base of the stairs leading up to the statue that was the Shrine of Boethia.<p>

A sickly looking Dunmer man stood at the top of the stairs.

Blood stained his throat, and dripped from his wrists onto the snow.

He was very, very dead. Yet he still stood, under Boethia's power.

Stood, and spoke. "**You wish to seek my favor? Then prove your existence. Kill him.**"

Boethia's faithful charged at him, screaming at the top of their lungs.

Naruto straightened his right hand, forming a knife-hand. He plunged his fingers into the throat of the first cultist to reach him.

The slick, warm blood splashed on his face.

Naruto's breathing slowed. He looked around, the cultists charged at him, yet they moved slowly.

A smile spread over Naruto's face. A low, throaty laugh began to sprout from him.

* * *

><p>The Dunmer that was Boethia's vessel watched on impassively as the blonde tore through his faithful, a gleeful whirlwind of death. When the sound of Naruto's laughter reached his ears however, the Daedra grinned. "<strong>Perhaps this one is not as useless as I thought.<strong>"

* * *

><p>Naruto stood amid the corpses, chunks of flesh hanging from his bloodstained hands. A wide smile adorned his face. "It's been a while since I cut loose." He was glad that Merrill hadn't been awake to see that. His smile faded as he thought about what he had done.<p>

He scowled. He had never been like this before...everything had happened. Something had broken inside of him, and the adrenaline of battle, killing, sometimes he lost himself in it. Sometimes that disgusted him. He sighed, and shook his hands clean before heading up the stairs to speak with the avatar of Boethia.

"**Never before have I seen such a perfect engine of destruction! And in such an unassuming package too.**"

Naruto nodded his thanks, "So, have I earned your favor yet?"

"**Oh no, not by a long shot. You have one last thing to do to earn my favor.**"

Naruto shrugged. "What is it?"

The avatar smiled, its dead face making the expression horrific. "**Prove that you are dedicated. I am the advocate of treason after all. Bring me someone who trusts you, have them touch the altar of sacrifice, and then kill them.**"

Naruto was silent.

_...You wouldn't do that...would you Naruto?_ Naruto's eyes snapped wide open.

"H-how long have you been watching?"

_L-long enough. Naruto. W-when this is done. You need to tell me why you are the way you are. I'm frightened for you._

Naruto looked down. "Merrill. Don't watch this. Please don't watch this. I don't want you to see me like this."

_W-what?_

Merrill's presence withdrew from the ring, and Naruto was confident that she was no longer watching.

He looked at the avatar.

"You want me to kill my friends? To prove my existence? My existence is proven, my existence is set in stone. My existence is an _immutable fact of my world._"

"**Ohh? And how do you expect to prove this?**"

Naruto clapped his hands together, summoning a long, straight bladed sword into his outstretched palm.

"This sword belonged to the man I considered my brother. He died at my hand. I exist because I ended his life. He knew, then, at the end, that my existence was greater than his."

The avatar took the blade and swung it a few times before planting it into the ground. **"Not good enough boy. Show me the rest.**" The avatar stretched out a hand, and grabbed Naruto's forehead.

He screamed.

* * *

><p><em>Naruto stood, out of breath, Kubikiri holding up the weight that his legs no longer would.<em>

"_Why won't you _stop_!"_

_Sasuke watched Naruto, his red eyes gleaming. Impassive. "I need to win. I will win. I must win. You will die."_

_Naruto struggled to stand upright, "Don't do this Sasuke. You can't win."_

"_I have to." Sasuke charged forward, his sword covered in electrical chakra._

_Naruto closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the fox-like eyes of his Jinchuuriki form had combined with the frog-like eyes of his Sage Mode. He ducked to the side, and drove his fist into Sasuke's chest. Through Sasuke's chest. Through Sasuke's heart._

_Death was nigh instantaneous._

* * *

><p><em>Sakura charged at him, tears streaming from her eyes.<em>

_Lee and Shino were dead at his feet. _

"_Please! Stop this!"_

"_Naruto! Save us! Please!"_

_Naruto dodged the superstrong punch from the pink haired medic. _

_She kicked him, and it caught him in the chin. As he flew through the air, he saw the moon. That ever present moon, inscribed with Tobi's titanic sharingan. That inescapable genjutsu that was controlling everyone._

_Everyone but Naruto._

_He didn't want to kill his friends._

_He didn't want to die._

_He died a little every time he saw the light in their eyes go out. _

_But it was intentional. He had to kill a part of himself. Or he would have died long ago._

_As he flew through the air, a wild grin spread across his face. He flipped in the air, landing with his feet planted against the wall of a building. "Sakura-chaaaaaaan. Do you want to dance?" _

_The medic threw another punch, even as she begged Naruto to stop._

_Tobi's greatest crime was to leave Naruto's comrades perfectly aware of what was happening._

_Sakura saw the glee in Naruto's face as he separated her torso from her waist._

_Saw the glee as he staggered towards where she had landed. _

_Saw the glee as he placed one foot on the side of her head._

_Saw the glee as in one swift and brutal motion, he crushed her skull with his foot._

* * *

><p><em>Konoha, Suna, Kumo, Iwa, Kiri. Everyone had converged onto Naruto, and he cut through them with gleeful abandon. <em>

_He had met Tsunade several days earlier, and had dragged out the fight long enough for her to impart upon him the knowledge of the Genesis Rebirth Seal. A useful thing. He pinned her to a wall with Kiba. And removed her head with Kubikiri._

_Garaa had been devoured by Samehada, while the blonde laughed joyously at the noises the living sword made while it ate._

_Neji had been destroyed by Shibuki, naught but a fine red mist had been left behind._

_As Tobi sent more and more of his old comrades against him, Naruto feel deeper and deeper into his protective madness. _

_Until Tobi made the mistake of sending her._

_Hinata Hyuuga._

_They fought for a while, until suddenly, she froze. Stopped moving aside from the occasional twitch._

"_N-Naruto-kun. I love you." Her hand flashed up, and she slammed it into the side of her own head._

_She fell into a crumpled heap, her brain destroyed by the power of the Juken._

"_H-Hinata?" His shell had broken. And he faced the monstrosity of what he had done. Broke down. He wept. But then, somewhere inside him, a shard of the shell remained. And he turned towards it, and embraced it, and let it consume him. _

_It was better than the pain._

* * *

><p>"<strong>...I...am impressed."<strong>

Naruto fell to his knees. Trepidation filtered through the ring. She had seen. The Daedra Lord had made her see. Everything.

"Merrill..."

…_..what...what are you..._ And the connection severed. Instantly depriving Naruto of the comforting presence of the elven woman.

"**Congratulations boy. You have earned my favor. Rest for a while, and give me the blade you got from Nocturnal. With my power, and that blade, I shall turn this sword. From that...Sasuke, into a thing of beauty. **"

Naruto felt numb. He drew Nocturnal's Shadowblade, and dropped it on the ground.

"Sure."

A grin spread across his face. Who was he going to see next? The Prince of Madness right?

Good.

Madness was something he could relate to at the moment.

* * *

><p>AN: So, what do you think of this chapter?<p>

And I'm _**NOT**_ going to tell you what Reklosul means, or who Reklosul is. Telling you what it means would spoil who it is, and saying who it is would spoil some things. Figure it out, and you get a cookie, and 10,000 internets.

Also, who do you think Pivane Crowe is?

Please, for the love of the Maker, for the love of the Divines, for the love of Kami, PLEASE REVIEW!


	9. Excess

AN: Who's ready to learn more about Naruto's past?

* * *

><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

Excess

* * *

><p>Naruto walked down the path to meet Gungnir and Talsi. A wide smile adorned his face, the bloodstains on his clothes and face having long since frozen on the frigid mountain slope.<p>

Gungnir tensed, and Talsi grabbed her bow on reflex.

The black katana slung over his shoulder radiated an immense sense of wrongness. As did the blonde's unnerving smile. "So, where next?"

"What happened up there Naruto?"

A glint of darkness passed behind Naruto's bright eyes, "My past was laid bare, and Merrill could not bear it. It makes me sad. But I will endure, as I always have." The katana blazed with black and violet flames, and became a dagger, which Naruto placed at his waist. He looked at his companions. "Take care that I would not have to endure your loss as well."

Gungnir watched with cold eyes. "You speak words colder than the snow you stand on whelp. Take care there is no bite to them."

The two men locked eyes, and Naruto's smile grew. "You would fight me Gungnir, oh Dragonborn?"

"If I must. Yes." His hand tightened around the handle of his hammer.

Naruto's smile grew ever wider, threatening to split his head in half.

A hum sounded in Naruto's ear. "Calm, Traveler. We mean you no harm." He blinked, his eyes finding Talsi standing next to him. Was he so focused on Gungnir that he did not see the Nightingale move to his side?

The woman hummed again, the sound was soothing. "The other woman, this, Merrill. She could not fathom what she saw in you. I will not attempt to. I will not leave your side. It is my duty."

Naruto's mad grin softened. "How sweet of you. Well then, shall we be off?" Naruto set off down the mountain path, whistling a jaunty tune.

* * *

><p>Gungnir watched Naruto intently. The blonde was not himself.<p>

He looked like himself, but that was where his similarities to himself ended. He was not speaking like himself, was not smiling like himself, was not even _walking_ like himself.

What was most disturbing to Gungnir was that Naruto was not _fighting_ like himself.

To his eye, the blonde had maintained some semblance of a pattern, some strategy in his fighting, changing weapons as needed, using the exact amount of force needed for a certain task.

Despite the man's flashiness, it occurred to Gungnir that Naruto, when himself at least, was something of a conservative fighter. He preferred to only _slightly_ outmatch his opponents.

When he was not himself however...

* * *

><p>Naruto stood with his blade planted in the back of a particularly large Nord bandit. Nowhere near as large as Gungnir, but still, larger than average.<p>

His breathing was erratic, and his body shook. His eyes glimmered like shards of ice, the blood coating his body freezing from the chill he exuded.

His wide, ever present grin never faltered.

Not even when one of the bandit's arrows managed to pierce his throat.

He simply ripped it out, encased the wound in ice, and continued his wanton slaughter.

Talsi and Gungnir simply stood and watched in horror.

While he _did_ feel miffed that his good, dear, beloved friends did not wish to play with him, that was their business and he would not allow it to infringe on _his_ playtime.

If it did, then his good, dear, beloved friends would cease to be so.

That did not bode well for their projected life expectancies.

Though Talsi would live significantly longer than Gungnir.

Such lovely _curves_ she had.

* * *

><p>Hawke found Merrill propped up against her wall, several bottles of wine empty scattered on the floor around her, a fresh one in her hand. Her eyes, glazed and unfocused, never left the Eluvian.<p>

"Merrill? What's wrong?"

She said nothing, only vaguely gestured towards the Eluvian.

What Hawke saw, frankly, terrified him.

Naruto was covered in grisly wounds, and he paid them no heed, simply laughing madly as his black blade swept back and forth, carving into the bandits before him.

Bandits that had thrown down their weapons and were trying to _flee._

Hawke's eyes hardened. "Merrill, what happened. Why are you-"

A bright light emanated from the mirror and Hawke turned back to see what had occurred.

White, smoky light streamed from Naruto's eyes, and his mouth was _aglow_. Energy wrapped him like armor, and he suddenly seemed much larger than he was moments earlier. Hawke staggered back, the sheer force of Naruto's power bleeding through the mirror, threatening to overwhelm him.

He slumped against the wall next to Merrill, numbly taking the wine from her and drinking some. "W-what am I looking at Merrill?"

The woman's head wove back and forth erratically, for some reason he was unable to keep her head still. "Power. He's *hic*** **using _all_ his power. To kill people that have _given up._ He's...monstrous."

Hawke stared at the image shown by the Eluvian.

At the raw power the blonde man was exuding.

A chilling thought occurred to him.

"Merrill, doesn't he want to come here?"

* * *

><p>Naruto sat easily on a log, stripped down to hardly anything as Talsi cleaned and bandaged his wounds.<p>

The titanic Nord man sat opposite Naruto, the crackling flames of their fire separating them.

The Dragonborn wore an expression of utter focus and its entirety was directed at maintaining visual confirmation that Naruto was not attempting to murder everyone.

The blonde, in turn, looked utterly relaxed, and was largely focused on ogling the Dunmer woman as she wrapped bandages around his arms, and applied the few healing magics that she knew.

The woman rose and turned away from Naruto, intending to feed herself, and then sleep.

***SMACK***

Silence filled the small campground after that, terrible, foreboding, ominous sound.

Gungnir slowly blinked, and began to edge away from the fire, and his companions.

Naruto simply continued to grin, his offending hand firmly planted where he had placed it.

Talsi stood, blood creeping into her face, unseen beneath her ash-dark skin.

The offending hand crept around, and latched firmly onto her waist, pulling her back to his side.

Still that ever present grin.

The unfathomable glint in those blue eyes.

The heat in her face was unmistakeable.

His face was a hairsbreadth away from hers.

A low, throaty whisper came from that ever grinning face. "You said you were never going to leave my side. Do your duty Nightingale. Stay at my side."

Talsi blinked slowly, unable to speak. Unable to fathom if his words were true, or if they were simply him sinking deeper into this insufferable madness.

His eyes softened, the smile faltered, and for an instant, she saw beneath it. His voice hardly above a whisper. "Please..."

She nodded.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Is it truly open? Or is he just taunting us. You know he is wont to do that.<strong>_

**Hnnn.**

_**Do you not even attempt to **_**try****_?_**

**No. I do not. He is aware of us. If he wished to draw on us, he would. And he would suffer the consequences of doing so.**

_**Suffer? **_**SUFFER?**The female screeched. _**HOW WILL HE SUFFER IF WE DO NOT DISRUPT THE POWER HE YET HAS? HE WILL NOT DRAW UPON HIS WHEN HE CAN DRAW UPON THE POWER OF THE WORLD! HE WILL NOT CALL UPON US IF HE CAN CALL UPON THE POWER OF HIS EIGHTH GATE!**_

**Silence woman. Silence, lest I _make_ you silent.**

And Sakura was silent.

…**.Fine. Do not leave the confines of the cage, but extend your power outward, meddle as you will in _that_ manner. Do not disrupt my rest again for your petty concerns. Am I understood?**

The feline demon made an approximation of a smile, _**Yes Sasuke-kun, understood.**_

* * *

><p>AN: Ok, be honest guys, who <em>really<em> thought the other demon was Sasuke?

Do you think Naruto would still be acting as erratically as he is if he knew Merrill was still watching him through the Eluvian?


	10. Face of Madness

AN: Why? Whhhhhhhy? I'm loving how many people are adding my story to their favorites and story alerts, but c'mon guy's, why do you not review?

But eh, short chapter incoming. Does it's job. Twas fun to write.

* * *

><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

Face of Madness

* * *

><p>Naruto's finger tapped endlessly on the hilt of his blade, which had once more taken the form of a elegant black katana, which the blonde felt rested more comfortably on his hip than a dagger.<p>

*taptaptaptaptap*

He looked up and sniffed the air. "Ah." In a continuous, fluid motion, he sunk into a stance and drew his blade. Black and violet flames erupted along the blade, extending past its length and slicing through a tree. The flames extinguished as the blade was resheathed. He exhaled, his breath warm in the frigid morning.

*taptaptaptaptap*

The tree he had slashed toppled to the ground, revealing a large and startled elk. As it stared at the blonde, its head fell off.

Naruto grinned and began humming a formless tune as he slung the beast over his shoulder and made his way back to the campsite his companions had set up.

_**Why do you bother? You know they don't trust you. They'll turn on you if you let them live.**_

Naruto paused and cocked his head to the side. "Hello Sakura-chan. You should be quiet."

_**Or what? You'll kill me? Like you did before?**_

"Hnn. Perhaps. Tell me, how was hell? Surely you must have spent some time there before turning into a giant pussy."

Sakura screeched inside his mind, spitting expletives at him with wrathful abandon. Naruto simply smiled.

* * *

><p>Talsi sat on a log, tending to her bow. She seemed tired, and her typically meticulous hair was uncharacteristically disheveled.<p>

"Are you unwell, elf?" Gungnir's voice rumbled, deeper than usual. He cleared his throat. Sleeping in the cold played havoc on the throat.

The woman nodded, "Despite how he has been acting, I feel that the Traveler is depressed. Greatly so. His attitude is not a facade, nor is it his true feelings. He's protecting himself. I comforted him." That last bit brought a small smile to her face.

Gungnir was silent for a few minutes. Suddenly he laughed, "That means you fucked him, right?"

The bowstring snapped in her hands, and Talsi began stuttering out denials and inane attempts to change the subject. Gungnir held up his hand.

"Bah, I care not. Treat him gently elf, take care not to damage him further. He's a fine ally, but I don't doubt he'd make just as fierce an enemy."

The elven woman nodded. "He needs comfort, not betrayal."

"Bah, you just want me for my body." Talsi stiffened as Naruto, bold as can be, strode back into camp with an elk slung over his shoulders. "Got food. Praise me!"

Gungnir clapped dramatically and Naruto took a bow.

"So, how exactly do we get a hold of this Sheogorath guy?"

Gungnir shrugged. "I figure we get you drunk, wrecked on skooma, in the middle of a storm, and hit random villagers with wheels of cheese."

Naruto simply stared at Gungnir with an open mouthed grin, and Talsi looked incredulous.

Gungnir shrugged, "Trust me, old bastard will bloody _love_ it."

Naruto burst out laughing, "I _like_ this plan."

Talsi simply palmed her own face, sighing deeply.

* * *

><p><strong>You should just give up.<strong>

_**You killed all your friends.**_

**She killed herself. **

_**Because she loved you.**_

**The new one ran away.**

_**With good reason.**_

**You're a monster.**

_**A murderer.**_

**You made promises.**

_**Promised to save us.**_

**Promised to help us.**

_**But what did you do?**_

**You lied.**

_**You killed us.**_

**You liked it.**

_**You loved it.**_

**Nobody will ever trust you.**

_**Nobody will ever love you.**_

**Hated.**

_**Feared.**_

**Betrayed.**

Naruto stared at the flickering flames of the fire, Gungnir and Talsi having long since drifted into the embrace of slumber.

"Merrill? Are you there?" His questions were met by silence.

_**She doesn't want to speak with you.**_

**You're a monster.**

_**Why would she love a monster?**_

**How could she love a monster?**

_**You should just die.**_

**Save us all the trouble.**

Naruto ignored the voices, "Merrill...please..."

_**She  
><strong>_**will  
><strong>**_never  
><em>come  
><em>back!<em>**

Naruto growled, sickly black and violet chakra leaking from his body.

"_**That looks unhealthy. You should get that checked before it spreads to your nethers.**_"

Naruto's head snapped up, and was rewarded by the sight of a well groomed man in colorful clothing eating a wedge of cheese with one hand, and holding a teacup with the other.

The man set his teacup on the head of his walking stick, where it inexplicably remained perfectly level and balanced. Breaking off a piece of cheese, he threw it at Naruto's head.

The sickly chakra immediately retreated back into the blonde's body.

.

.

.

"What."

* * *

><p>AN: ENTER SHEOGORATH! The next couple of chapters will probably...make very little sense, for they shall be under the influence of the Prince of Madness.<p>

MADNESS I SAY, MADNESS!

Anyways.

Please, for the love of the Maker, for the love of the Divines, for the love of Kami, PLEASE REVIEW!


	11. ABACUS!

AN: I have no excuse or explanation for the events in this chapter. Well...aside from Sheogorath. FOR CHEESE AND VICTORY!

* * *

><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

_**ABACUS!**_

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>What? Do I have something on my face? Oh woes me, my beautiful face, marred forever by-<strong>_"

"What's going on. What the-"

"_**Never again will I look upon myself with joy, only disgust-"**_

"This needs to-"

"_**Why cruel fate! WHY!"**_

Naruto grinned crookedly, and struck a pose, his foot up on his log, his left hand on his chest, and his right hand stretched towards the sky. "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks!"

The colorfully dressed man stood up, and mirrored Naruto, his cane held aloft, the teacup still balanced precariously on the top. _**"It is the east, and she is the sun!**_"

"Arise, fair sun, and _kill_ the envious moon!"

"_**Who is already sick and pale with grief!**_"

"That thou, her maid, art far more fair then she!"

"_**Be not her maid, since she is envious!"**_

Naruto's arms dropped suddenly to his sides, "The fuck..." In an instant, the black blade was in his hand, and he swung wildly at the colorfully dressed man.

The man ducked and weaved around the blade, seemingly on accident, as he drank his tea and munched contentedly on his cheese.

Suddenly, the man stopped, blocked Naruto's sword with a wedge of cheese, and slammed his walking stick into Naruto's head. _**"ABACUS!"**_

Colors exploded across Naruto's vision and he toppled to the ground.

He groaned, and everything went black.

* * *

><p>Naruto awoke with a groan, and was greeted by the faces of Gungnir and Talsi within inches of his own.<p>

"W-what the hell? Get away fro-" Naruto paused. "Why do I sound weird."

Gungnir stepped back, the large man had planted his axe in the ground, and now stood with his hands on the end of the shaft. "Who are you, and what have you done with Naruto?"

"What are you talking about? I'm Naruto?"

Talsi shook her head, "No, you're not."

"Of course I am! Who else would I be?"

Gungnir sighed and shook his head. "Look down." Naruto obliged.

"No. You've got to shitting me. No. Just. No. Why. No. Please no. Why. Good god why."

Naruto's string of begging for what he saw to be false continued for some time. It was understandable really.

For when he looked down, he was greeted by plentiful cleavage looking back up at him.

* * *

><p><strong>You didn't.<strong>

_**Oh but I did my good fellow. I did indeed.**_

**You're utterly...nevermind. It's sort of a given.**

Sheogorath shrugged, and returned to his work.

**So you're taking the sword I took from him, that he got from Nocturnal, and doing...what with it?**

Sheogorath shrugged again. _**Convenience. The boy had too many pointy things in that little pocket dimension of his. **_

**So your solution is to put all the pointy things...into **_**one**_** pointy thing?**

The madgod beamed, _**I know, it's brilliant isn't it?**_

**I'm not even going to try.**

_**Better men have tried. I tried. Look at me now! Be a dear and pass my cheese. I've got me a mighty hankering.**_

**You always have a mighty hankering for cheese.**

Sheogorath seemed to ponder that for a time. _**Highly irrelevant. Now gimme my damn cheese.**_

* * *

><p>"HOW AM I A WOMAN!" Naruto's eyes were wild, and his, rather, <em>her<em> hair flew madly around her head.

Talsi stood calmly, "Something you ate perhaps?"

Naruto pulled at her hair, seething. "Something I _ate_? Are you daft woman?" The Dunmer woman simply shrugged.

Gungnir looked at Naruto critically. "So, harboring any maniacal thoughts? How about murderous? Bizarre?"

"Uh, no?" Naruto raised a delicate golden eyebrow. "Why would I be?"

Gungnir frowned. "Well, this isn't good."

Talsi lookes between the long legged blonde woman and the giant Nord man. The blonde woman had a petulant expression on her face. The Dragonborn seemed pensive.

"Why isn't it good?"

"Sheogorath was here, that's why. Naruto, test yourself."

The slim eyebrow shot up again, then a small, hesitant nod. She clapped her hands together. Nothing happened.

"W-what?" She clapped her hands again. "WHERE ARE ALL MY WEAPONS?"

* * *

><p><strong>Is that...<em>your eye?<em>**

_**Why yes, yes it is. **_

**You're going to do _what_ with it?**

_**Oh you'll see. **_

**This is utter madness.**

_**Why thank you.**_ Sheogorath whistled cheerily. **_Hmmmmm. Let's see how well you handle this little task. If you fail, no cheese for you. Which is just...just...horrid. Unless you hate cheese. Which is impossible. Nobody hates cheese. Though...if you pass...still no cheese for you. My cheese. Go get your own. _**

* * *

><p>"So...I can't use Sage Mode, I can't open any of the gates, I don't have any of my weapons, I can't use my chakra, and I'm not as strong as I was. What the shit man. Why'd he do that?" Naruto pulled at her hair, as if she could will her skills back into functionality. She wasn't pleased with the female body he had found himself in, but he could manage that. What she truly lamented was the loss of his weapons and skills. She felt vulnerable.<p>

Gungnir shrugged, "He's the _Prince of Madness_, you don't really try to make sense of what he does, just sort of play along. Eventually he gets bored and you'll go back to normal."

Naruto sighed. "Fuck it. Let's go." Naruto rose to her feet and stretched her back.

"Where to Traveler?"

Naruto shrugged, "This Sheogorath guy is the one that did this to me. So, I figure we might as well go through with Gungnir's original plan and try to summon the bastard."

Gungnir nodded, and scooped Naruto up and slung her over his shoulder before doing the same with Talsi.

"W-what the hell are you doing?"

The man rolled his massive shoulders, "You've got no way to defend yourself. So before we do anything else, you're going to learn." The man began walking, his long strides devouring the ground before him.

"Learn what?" He stepped particularly hard off a ledge and Naruto's head slammed into his back. "Shit be careful!"

Talsi had propped herself up on her elbows, and was calmly watching the scenery. The Dunmer shrugged, "Magic I would assume. Perhaps the Thu'um as well."

"Aye, the elf speaks truth. The both of you had best hold on, and tightly." The Dragonborn had begun to pick up pace, and Naruto felt an indescribable sensation radiating from the man.

She realized he was preparing to Shout, and so grabbed the man's shoulders for dear life.

"**WULD NAH KEST.**"

Under the influence of the Shout, the landscape rushed by, snow becoming grasslands becoming snow once more. Finally Gungnir came to a stop, a bridge spanning a chasm before him. Sturdy scaffolds surrounded the bridge, and stone-workers milled about.

"Welcome, to the College of Winterhold."

* * *

><p>AN: ABACUS!<p>

And yes, Naruto is in his Sexy Jutsu form. He can't turn back because of Sheogorath. I mean, dude's basically a god. If he wants you to be a woman, you're a godamned woman.

That said, he also took _all_ of Naruto's weapons, and blocked _all_ of Naruto's chakra based ninja skills.

Anyone have any suggestions for what school of magic Gungnir should teach Naruto? Or what Shouts she should learn?


	12. Crash Course

AN: TO THE MAGE'S COLLEGE! ITS MAGIC TIIIIME.

* * *

><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

Crash Course

* * *

><p>"You're doing it wrong." Naruto's face was screwed up in concentration, sweat beading on her brow. "You have absolutely no talent with this." Faralda sighed. She would dutifully obey the Archmage's command to teach the blonde woman magic, but it would be far easier if said blonde woman had even a modicum of talent in the arts of Destruction.<p>

Naruto screwed up her face once more, attempting to conjure an orb of fire into her hands, but as per the usual, she got no results.

Faralda sighed again, "Get out. Go have Colette fix your hands, then teach you how to do it yourself. Just...get out."

The blonde nodded and beat a hasty retreat, wrapping strips of cloth around her scorched and bloody hands.

She sighed, making her way into Colette's chambers. She said nothing, only held out her hands.

"W-what do you want?"

Naruto glared at the woman and unwrapped her hands.

Colette scowled, "Faralda's been working you hard then?"

Naruto nodded, too tired to even think of speaking.

"I'll take care of that." The woman muttered softly to herself, and conjured up a glowing sphere of golden energy, "So, I hear you're going to be learning Alteration from Tolfdir?"

Naruto nodded, feeling more energetic as the golden energy flowed through her body.

"Well, I'm sure that will be entertaining. Now come on, you've got to learn from me. We know you're horrid at anything but the most basic healing spell, although you have the stamina to maintain it long enough to heal even severe injuries. Let's try ward spells now."

Naruto sighed again, and nodded. She brought her hands up, and willed magical energy to gather in her palms.

Colette seemed more confident now that she was teaching, otherwise she was a paranoid and shy woman. She leveled her gaze on Naruto, "Ward magic is all about visualization. In your mind, you must build a barrier. With your magic, you must represent this barrier in the physical world." Without waiting for Naruto to gather her thoughts, Colette launched a flame at the blonde, who dodged out of the way, only to be struck in the side by a bolt of lighting. While the lightning did little more than numb the area struck, Naruto's pride took a greater hit.

If Colette was an enemy, that blast would have been fatal.

"Again." Colette lobbed a trio of fireballs, and Naruto stood fast, visualizing an impenetrable wall surrounding her on all sides.

The flames splashed against the air before Naruto, who cringed against the great heat. There was a sound like cracking glass, and Naruto redoubled her efforts, strengthening the ward.

The flames died out abruptly and Colette stood perfectly motionless, her hands at her sides, her lips pursed, magic so thick in the air that it practically vibrated. Her arms snapped up, and a single thick bolt of lightning cut the air between them.

Naruto held her ward, confident that it would hold.

There was a sound like cracking glass.

A blinding pain.

Darkness.

* * *

><p>"I thought you were a healer?"<p>

Colette sighed, "You don't get to be a Master by neglecting the other schools. I just prefer fixing things to destroying them, unlike that haughty bitch Faralda."

"Hm. Well, patch her up, then back to training. Try not to kill her again please."

Colette sighed again, "Yes Archmage."

* * *

><p>Gungnir returned to his chambers, and was rather surprised to find Talsi reclining in a chair, a goblet of red wine held lazily in her slim hand. He took a deep breath, and narrowed his eyes.<p>

"What are you?"

The Dunmer didn't look at him, only her wordless hum indicating that she acknowledged him at all.

"Don't ignore me elf. What are you."

Again, she said nothing, simply hummed as a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

The Dragonborn took a step forward, Talsi twitched.

The door behind the Dragonborn slammed shut.

Talsi twitched once more.

Gungnir felt a fist sink into his stomach, blasting him back against the now shut door.

Talsi remained in her seat, calmly sipping her wine, humming contentedly.

The gigantic Nord man hauled himself to his feet. "I ask again. What are you."

Finally, Talsi looked at him, her eyes no longer red, but a pale lavender. "I am something you cannot comprehend. Sit, drink, eat." The woman took another sip of her wine. "I shall answer what I can."

Gungnir nodded numbly and did as he was told.

* * *

><p>Naruto threw up another ward as Colette continued to bombard him with fireballs. She held off on the lightning, the blonde wasn't ready for that yet.<p>

So the healer continued to bombard Naruto with a ceaseless stream of increasingly powerful blasts of flame, intended to gradually increase the strength of Naruto's ward, while also increasing her magical stamina.

Needless to say, Colette was incredibly surprised when her flames disappeared with a woosh into the shimmering ward that surrounded the blonde. The woman's eyes were shut, her breath steady, a tendril of black smoke curled from her mouth. She exhaled sharply from her nose, twin jets of flame emerging.

Her eyes snapped open, revealing orbs of blue flame.

"Hawaa~...Ne, that's a shit ton of power Colette."

Colette blinked. Never had she seen someone with such a fearsome ability. Highly skilled mages could absorb a portion of the power from outside sources, but to absorb all of it? Unheard of.

Naruto took a deep breath, closing her eyes once more. When they opened, they were no longer aflame, though they did seem significantly brighter than before.

The blonde smirked, "I think I'm ready for lightning."

* * *

><p>"You must extend your mind. Alteration is the art of shaping the world around you to your whims, and only the most focused of individuals can truly master this talent."<p>

"Then how do you do it Tolfdir?"

"Do what?"

"Focus your mind?"

"Why would I do that?"

"...So you can use Alteration magic?"

The man pursed his lips and shrugged, "Never heard of it."

"W-what?" Naruto was baffled, the old man alternated between serious and sagely, to confused and nonsensical, seemingly at random. "You're _teaching_ me alteration! How do you _not_ know what it is?"

"Are you hungry? I made sandwiches." The man produced a platter of delicious looking sandwiches from nowhere. Naruto assumed that he had actually used his magic to pull them out of the air. Or an alternate dimension. Tolfdir was apparently also a master of conjuration. This fact often escaped the elderly mage. Many facts often escaped the elderly mage.

Naruto sighed, and gingerly took one of the sandwiches. Mammoth meat and goat cheese with bits of cucumber and a dressing that tasted vaguely like juniper berries and mead. They tasted quite good.

And then they exploded.

Tolfdir laughed uproariously as a faint haze of telekinetic magic surrounded his hand, which he had used to violently shred the sandwiches, creating a massive mess. Most of which ended up on the blonde.

She pulled her hair and screamed in frustration, "You're impossible!"

"Who?"

Naruto simply screamed.

* * *

><p>Gungnir twirled the longsword in his hand, Naruto held a length of chain.<p>

At the blonde's request, they were sparring as the Dragonborn instructed her in the Way of the Voice.

"Before you can use the power of a Word, you must fully comprehend the Word, all its intricacies, all its meanings, everything it doesn't mean, every possible nuance, every pronunciation."

The chain rocketed towards his head, attempting to take advantage of his blind eye. The large man simply pivoted on the balls of his feet, turning sideways and grabbing the chain out of the air, pulling it towards himself, and the blonde along with it.

He was rather surprised when, as she neared him, the blonde took a deep breath. "**Ven..VEY TUZ!**"

Roaring wind exploded from the mouth of the blonde, miniscule blades of magic tearing into his flesh the moment the maelstrom struck him. He staggered back, and was toppled over as the blonde slammed her knee into his bleeding face.

"Yeah, I think I understand the words." Naruto grinned broadly. She approached Gungnir and held her hands over his body, enveloping them in a golden light. She scowled, "Sorry, this might take a while. Not so good at doing this quickly."

Gungnir only laughed. "Master all three words of a shout in a month. Can't master a simple healing spell."

Naruto's scowl deepened. "Shaddup."

* * *

><p>Naruto sat crosslegged in the snow, her eyes shut, her breathing shallow.<p>

Talsi stood watch as the blonde woman attempted to channel her magic through her body as she would chakra.

While the results weren't exactly what Naruto intended, they were nonetheless impressive. Pure magical energy saturated Naruto, causing the blonde to emit a soft white light.

Talsi hummed, and smiled, her red eyes becoming pale lavender. "How interesting."

* * *

><p>Naruto progressed in leaps and bounds, attaining a mastery of warding magic that Colette had never seen. Still, the blonde girl was utterly incapable of using any but the simplest healing magics.<p>

"Naruto, there's nothing more I can teach you. You can block and _absorb_ my most powerful spells." She chewed on her lip for a moment, nervous, her typical paranoia surfacing for a moment, "In fact, I wouldn't hesitate to call you a Master, at least in wards." She smiled for a moment, "Your other talents though...novice. I'm done with you, go learn more from someone else."

Naruto smiled, and bowed deeply. As she turned to leave, Colette cleared her throat.

"Naruto?"

The blonde turned, "Yes?"

"If you ever need a hand, feel free to ask."

Naruto smiled, "Thanks."

* * *

><p>Tolfdir sat in his chair, having a staring contest with a painting of himself as Naruto practiced her Alteration. Her finger was pressed against a lump of iron ore, and her face screwed up in concentration.<p>

Tolfdir snapped his fingers, the iron ore turned into silver, and the silver turned into gold, before reshaping itself into a golden ingot, when then shaped itself into a set of shiny rings.

Naruto looked at the elderly mage, who was idly painting a face on a cabbage.

"I hate you."

"Hate leads to suffering. Suffering leads to the Dark Side."

Naruto pulled her hair again. "Why. Just why."

"The world is a rhombus!"

Naruto began to cry.

* * *

><p>Talsi danced away from Naruto, careful to avoid that remarkably flexible chain.<p>

"**WULD!**" Naruto blurred forward, slamming her chain wrapped fist into the Dunmer woman's stomach. "**FUS!**" The shockwave lifted Talsi off her feet and flung her against a wall. She gracefully dropped to the floor and fitted an arrow to her bowstring.

With a twang she let it fly, only for it to shatter against Naruto's suddenly black and gleaming skin.

"Ebonyflesh? You've progressed."

Naruto smiled, her teeth startlingly white against her black skin. She held up her hand, a slight haze surrounded it. Telekinesis. "Yep."

Talsi was bodily raised off the ground and jerked towards the blonde. Naruto cocked back her fist-

"_**ABACUS!"**_

* * *

><p>AN: That was...longer than usual.<p>

Yes, I left chunks of Naruto's training out, because I'm too lazy to write them. If anyone wants to know what Naruto's spellbook is, just ask, and I'll post up all the things that were learned this chapter as a supplementary chapter.

Oh, and Sheogorath has returned. _**ABACUS!**_

**Ven Vey Tuz**: Wind Cut Blade


	13. Trouble Brews

AN: LE GASP, Sorry peeps. You're gonna have to wait at least one chapter before we return to the Adventures of Naruto and Gungnir. There IS a whole other dimension in this story, where things aren't standing still. Ya know, that place where Hawke and Merrill are?

* * *

><p>Through the Looking Glass<p>

Trouble Brews

* * *

><p>A lone figure stood on the docks at the Gallows. A hooded cloak obscured any features that might have been seen.<p>

"Kirkwall. Hmm. I wonder if my letter was received." A small group of Templars moved towards the figure, who sighed. "Maker bless you my friends."

The lead Templar growled, "You're no friend of ours, _mage_." The man spoke the word as an insult.

The cloaked figure chuckled, "Do you know who I am?"

"You're a bloody apostate is what you are. You're coming with us."

The cloaked figure shook with mirth, "You have no authority over me."

The Templars drew their blades. "We'll show you authority." Their voices were full of menace.

The cloaked figure laughed again.

And vanished.

"Over here, boys." The Templar whirled about, and the figure was behind them, returning an ornate blade back to its sheath.

All but one of the Templar fell, blood spurting from their throats.

The remaining Templar fell to his knees, wetting himself as he did. "W-what are you."

The figure tossed back their hood, revealing an attractive female face. Pale skin, vibrant blue eyes, a jagged scar crossed over her nose, while a smaller scar marked her cheek, her pale blonde hair gave her an ethereal look, "I am Solona Amell, Commander of the Grey, Hero of Ferelden, Liegelord of Amaranthine. I slew the Archdemon Urthemiel and ended the Fifth Blight. You have no authority over me. Know your place."

The Templar shuddered, and pressed his helmeted forehead to the ground before Solona's feet. "I-I am your humble servant."

"Tch. I know a few Templars. They're more polite than you lot, and they have more honor. You're a coward."

"That they are dear cousin, that they are."

Solona looked towards the voice with a grin upon her face, "Ah, dear cousin, how do you fare?"

Hawke shrugged, leaning upon his staff, "Honestly? Been better."

The Warden Commander raised a shapely eyebrow, "Anything to do with why you asked me to come?"

The Champion of Kirkwall and the Hero of Ferelden had met but a few times, and while they had gotten along smashingly, they were unable to pursue a closer friendship, after all, they both had duties to attend to. Duties aside, Solona had embarked to Kirkwall as soon as feasible. When one of the few remaining members of your family said that they urgently needed your aid, you found someone to cover for you, and rushed to them. After of course, you grabbed a few trustworthy friends to help you just in case there was trouble looming on the horizon.

Unfortunately those friends were a drunken dwarf berserker, a homicidal (if reformed) elf mage, and an animated statue with a penchant for killing innocent birds. It had been quite an interesting boat ride.

Hawke sighed, "Yes and no. Walk with me, I'll show you around, and tell you what's bothering me. Sound good?"

Solona nodded, "Sounds great." As Solona and Hawke moved away from her ship, she sighed.

She imagined she would regret leaving her three companions unattended.

* * *

><p>"Shaddup ya stupid pointy-eared-witch, yer snorin!"<p>

"Hnnh!"

"I still fail to understand why you fleshy creatures need this...sleep nonsense."

"Stupid talkin statue, I'll make ya rubble!"

"Hnnh!"

* * *

><p>"So...Pivane <em>Crowe<em>? That name seems oddly intentional." Solana sat at the bar of the Hanged Man, a mug of cheap ale in her hand. Hawke leaned against the wall, keeping an eye on things. He nodded.

"He showed an interest in Merrill's Eluvian. He shouldn't even know she _has_ an Eluvian. Nobody should. But whatever. He shows up, suddenly random crimes within the city take a sharp drop. Raids on merchant caravans outside the city though..."

The Warden frowned, "Lemme guess, big spike?"

Hawke nodded, "Yes. So the goods from those caravans aren't coming in, the city starts experiencing a bit of a food shortage. Nothing the nobility notices of course, but everyone else surely does."

"And then Ser Crowe swoops in and saves the day." She slid her mug across the counter to the bartender, who refilled it and slid it back. Solona grimaced. It didn't taste the best. Oghren would love it.

"Precisely, with his miraculous Bloodmoon Dawn Company. Came out of nowhere with a shipful of supplies, and began distributing food and other necessities to those affected by the shortage of food and supplies."

Solona scowled, "Do you know for sure that he's using the supplies from the caravans?"

"This is where it gets tricky. You see, even if he was, he isn't. Not anymore. Now his company operates legitimate trade routes. Which are guarded by 'reformed' street toughs and led by former crime bosses. Of course, his routes still get hit on occasion, it would be too obvious if they didn't." Hawke looked weary.

The Warden was concerned. How much of this was fact? How much was conjecture? How much was wild paranoia. She knew that Hawke didn't appreciate any one group with significant power in Kirkwall, Meredith Stannard had taught him a lesson in caution, in the worst way possible. She sighed, she missed when things were straightforward. Kill darkspwan, save the world, that whole thing. Simple, clearly defined. Less politics.

.

.

.

Sort of.

* * *

><p>The Clanless First stood before the door to the home of the Dalish Pariah. Nervousness stopped her hand from knocking. She wondered if Merrill remembered her. Lovely, clumsy, brilliant, absent-minded Merrill. Velanna smiled at the memory, and knocked on the door.<p>

"Its open."

The voice was listless, vacant, uncaring.

Velanna cautiously walked into the house, and was immediately struck by the stench. Unwashed clothes, stale sweat, old food, and spoiled wine. The Dalish woman gagged. "M-Merrill?"

The woman emerged from a side room, closing the door behind her, but not before Velanna caught a glimpse of a strange white light. "Oh, Velanna. How are you? I do hope you've been well. I've been well, do you see? Soooooo well. Bit tired though. I'm going to lay down." Merrill's babbling, once endearing, was more unsettling than anything. She moved past Velanna like a sleepwalker, seemingly unaware of her own body. The door to her bedchamber shut behind her.

Velanna looked around the decently sized home, resolving to clean it while Merrill slept.

Numbly, Velanna realized she was crying.

* * *

><p>"Oghren?" A clink of coins being shuffled between hands. "Is that you, you drunken bastard?"<p>

"Varric? Ahhhhhhg you slick tongued coward. Ancestors be damned, didn't expect to run into you here!"

Varric laughed, "My sentiments exactly, how's the wife?" Varric smirked, he knew exactly how the wife was.

Oghren grinned widely, "Fantastic! How's the quest to grow a beard?" Oghren's grin only widened, he knew exactly how easily Varric could grow a beard.

"Now now, there's no need for me to become any more masculine, I have the vote of a certain Rivaini to confirm my position as the Paragon of Manliness."

Oghren had no response to that. He had only met one Rivaini in his life, and from the smirk on Varric's face and the glint in his eye, he knew that the merchant prince was referring to the very same. He grumbled, "Ah fine, you win. Just buy me a drink."

* * *

><p>"I have never met an elf with glowing markings. They are lyrium, yes?"<p>

"I have never met a statue that could speak. The crystals are a nice touch, the arrangement makes you look slim. Taller as well. Slim, tall, menacing. I like it." Fenris blinked, "And yes, they are lyrium."

Shale twisted her mouth into an approximation of a smirk, "I think I like you, elf. What is your name?"

"Fenris. And you?"

"Shale. Tell me Fenris. What are your feelings on _birds_?" Shale spoke the word with a hatred that would have terrified the mightiest Archdemon.

Fenris locked eyes with Shale, "They aggravate me. Always chirping when I try to sleep, always dropping their excrement on my armor."

Shale kept her eyes locked with Fenris. "It has been confirmed. I do like you elf."

* * *

><p>Merrill emerged tentatively from her bedchamber, blinking owlishly at the bright light streaming through the open windows.<p>

"What's this?"

An elven woman appeared in front of her, wrapping her arms around her and crushing her face into her chest. Merrill was quite shocked.

"Oh Merrill, what's happened to you? No matter, let's get you bathed, you can tell me everything while you soak." Velanna began to drag Merrill towards the room which contained her large bath, a wide smile on her face.

"Wh-" Merrill jerked away from Velanna. "You aren't really here, I'm seeing things. House isn't clean. Still a mess. Seeing things. Ugh. Need more sleep." Merrill turned back towards her bedchamber, only to be once more engulfed in a warm embrace.

"Shhh, it's ok da'vhenan. It's ok. I'm here." Merrill struggled to break the embrace, but weeks of barely eating, barely sleeping, and drinking little more than cheap wine had left her weak. "Come da'vhenan, let's get you bathed." Merrill simply nodded.

* * *

><p>"And then!" Varric spoke between laughs, a wide smile on his face, "And then! Hawke threw him off the stairs!"<p>

Oghren laughed, he spoke between mugs of cheap but potent ale, "Hah! Thatsh nothing! Th-*hic*-there wash this one time, where thish drunk tried to shmooze up on Sholana, and the picked 'im up, kicked 'im in the jewels, and fhrew 'im through a wall!" Oghren downed another mug of ale. "I wash the drunk!"

* * *

><p>"There! Do you see it!"<p>

"I see it." Fenris was having a rather enjoyable time with this fowl hating golem. At least he was, until the golem picked him up by the back of his armor, and launched him through the air at a pigeon that was simply roosting on a roof.

"Kill it!"

Fenris took a deep breath and activated his lyrium runes, passing through the roof when he impacted it.

Of course, he killed the pigeon as he passed it.

* * *

><p><strong>You have much ambition Traveler.<strong>

_**Much pride. We appreciate that.**_

**We empathize with that~**

**And now we watch with pride in our hearts.**

_**As your ambition begins to be rewarded.**_

**Pivane Crowe, Viscount of Kirkwall, Head of the Bloodmoon Dawn Trading Company, and the Overboss of all organized crime groups in the Free Marches~**

**We are so proud of you Traveler.**

Pivane Crowe sat in his large, comfy, padded chair, reading a book. Some seedy romance about a guard captain with red hair written by a pirate woman. His round spectacles perched upon his nose, allowing his coal black eyes to see with sharp detail every letter. "As am I. So proud." Pivane sprung up, moving to the window of his spacious office and pulling open the heavy curtain. "This is mine. All mine. No fancy overly elaborate plans. Just cleverness."

**Just cleverness? Cleverness and a healthy dose of power from the three of us I would think. You'd be blind by now if not for us.**

Pivane smirked, "This is true, I suppose eternal only means eternal until you cross the Veil. Ah well. You've ceased the deterioration of my eyes, for which I am grateful. After all," Pivane's coal black eyes shifted, becoming startling crimson. "What's the use of a blind Sharingan."

Itachi Uchiha, Viscount of Kirkwall, Head of the Bloodmoon Dawn Trading Company, and the Overboss of all organized crime groups in the Free Marches.

* * *

><p>AN: I don't have much to say about this chapter.<p>

What do ya think?

Please, for the love of the Maker, for the love of the Divines, for the love of Kami, PLEASE REVIEW!


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